


Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: On the Frontier of Chaos Author's Cut Edition

by Lugialvr1994



Series: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ruins of Civilization Author's Cut Re-releases [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Complete, Eventual Romance, Gen, Legendary Pokemon - Freeform, Male Protagonist, Multi, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-12-18 12:06:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 82,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18249512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lugialvr1994/pseuds/Lugialvr1994
Summary: The re-edited re-release, with bold author commentary, of my second story on this website, the sequel to my first. Please have read either version, or both versions, of PMD: In the Wake of Humanity before reading this story. This version updates spelling, grammar and sentence structure and makes some other minor changes. It also contains commentary in bold providing "development insights" among other notes. If you are willing to read, or skip over, some author commentary, then you should read this updated version of the story. That is true whether you are reading the story for the first time, or re-reading it.Original Story Summary: (Edited) In the sequel to PMD: In the Wake of Humanity, a poor young Pokémon from a small village travels off to the dangerous frontier, along with his best friend, to seek glory and a better home for his family as an adventurer. What he gets involved with once there will have greater stakes than he could have ever imagined.





	1. Leaving Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second of the "Author's Cut Editions" of my stories that I will be posting. I do not know when, if ever, I will post more "Author's Cut Edition" stories after this one. As the summary details, this version includes re-edited spelling, grammar and sentence structure. It also contains bold author commentary that varies from self-congratulatory to self-deprecating to hopefully insightful to just random. If you have not read the original story, than I might suggest reading this version, since it is more cleaned up. Also, you can always choose to ignore the bold commentary when you want to. Be warned as it will occasionally contain some spoilers for later in the story and possibly for this story's sequel. If you have already read the original story and enjoyed it, this version should hopefully justify a re-read for some readers. Just please do not expect any major changes. Regardless, I plan to post chapters of this edition when I have the time, hopefully averaging at least one per day. I will not be following my normal twice-weekly Tuesday and Friday posting schedule for this edition. This edition is ready in document form. I just need to post all of the chapters at this point. Anyways, thank you for reading these notes and enjoy the story.

            Diego sat down next to the small table. He was sitting on the floor, seeing as there were no chairs. He looked around the small hut and saw the same old fireplace, the same old stove, the same old wooden door and the same old straw beds. He had thought long and hard about the news he was to deliver that night. He then heard a clicking noise and turned his head to see the wooden door opening.

            A pair of Charmeleon, his parents, entered the room. Raul, his father walked over a small crate and deposited some coins. At the same time, Lenora, Diego’s mother carried a large pouch over to a small counter and emptied it. She then divided the berries and seeds, which had been inside the pouch into three portions. Lenora carried the food over to the table where Raul had sat down with Diego.

            **Unlike Kyla from the first story, Diego knows who his parents are when the story starts. I wanted to contrast the main protagonists of the stories and that was one example of that.**

            As the small family began to eat dinner Raul asked his son, “Diego, have you accomplished anything today? You know that money is still short and we need everyone doing whatever odd jobs they can.”

            The young Charmander sighed and then looked over the concerned faces of his mother and father. He told them, “What I have done today, is make a decision.”

            Lenora cocked her head and then asked her son, “What decision have you made?”

            Raul sternly said, “Whatever it is, I hope it involves supporting the family because we have no need for ideas that do not help us out financially.”

            Diego sighed again and said, “I have decided to leave home. I have made just enough of my own money to afford a one-way trip on a shipping barge headed north across the sea to the frontier. Once I arrive, I plan to do everything I can to make a name for myself. I want to bring some glory to our impoverished family and eventually send back for you two.”

            **I think that the poor hero leaving home in search of fame and fortune is an old concept. It has been done many times, but I hope that I did it somewhat uniquely in this story.**

            Raul placed his head in his claws and replied, “Diego, even if you have enough money to afford this trip, you would be all alone with almost no money, in a foreign territory. I know that you do not want to live in Kez village forever and that we are just scraping by, but this is not the way for you to succeed in life.”

            Diego did not seem discouraged, he then added, “Father, Ned is going to go with me. He has far more money than I have. His parents have already, albeit reluctantly, approved his leaving and he will make sure that I am not alone.”  

            **This is the first we hear of Diego’s friend Ned. Having the “Partner” character already be a friend of the protagonist when the story begins is another contrast in this story compared to its predecessor.**  

            Lenora told her husband, “Raul, if Ned is going with Diego, then I think we should consider letting him go. He has clearly thought this through. Besides, this might be our shot at a better life, or at least our son’s shot at a better life.”

            Diego nodded his agreement and said, “Dad, listen to mom. I will miss you both terribly, but I plan to do something, whatever it is, that will make Ned and I heroes up in the wild frontier. I am doing this not only for myself, but for our family!”

            **Diego care about his family, he was not only going on his adventure for his own personal gain.**

            Raul sighed deeply and thought for a moment, he then looked his only son in the eyes and said, “Ok then, go, but if it turns out to be too much up there, then have Ned give you the money for a trip home. Now, when does this shipping vessel leave?”

            Diego quickly replied, “Tomorrow, Ned and I have already purchased our tickets. I did not want to leave without telling you. However, I had already resolved to go with or without your permission.”

            **Like Kyla before him, Diego can be quite determined when he wants to be. He does not back down easily.**

            Lenora saw a bit of anger in her husband’s eyes and then changed the subject, saying, “Let’s eat then. This will be our last meal together for a long time, it seems.”

            The small family ate in silence and soon after that, they quietly went over to their respective beds and went to sleep.

            The next morning, Diego had said an emotional goodbye to both of his parents as his father went off to find work for the day, as usual. His mother went to gather food in the nearby forest, as usual. Diego walked over to the docks, after parting with his parents, where he saw a Squirtle waiting for him.

            As Diego approached, Ned called out, “Well, there you are, buddy! I was getting worried about you. The barge has been sighted. Soon, we will be of this island and away from this small, boring, village of ours!”

            Diego smiled back at his friend and responded, “Well, since your father is a well-paid dock manager, you do not really need to leave.”

            Ned took it in stride and smiled back, saying, “I find the ideas of adventure and heroism most intriguing. Not necessarily glory or pay, like you do.”

            As the pair walked to the edge of the dock to await the approaching barge Diego said, “We may have different motives, but we have both made this commitment. Let’s go do our best out there.”

            **That totally sounds like what a PMD character would say.**

            As the barge docked and the pair showed their tickets and boarded the vessel, Ned said to Diego, “I have been able to confirm that our destination is one of the frontier’s southern coast’s larger settlements, Semberta Town.”

            Diego nodded, as the two found a place among the cargo being loaded and unloaded to sit down. He then said, “Thankfully, the trip will take less than a whole week, only around five days. At least according to the Prinplup who sold us our tickets.”

            Ned nodded and replied, “Well, old friend, get cozy, it’s going to be a long ride.”

               The shipping barge set sail and traveled northeast across the ocean for five days. A school of Sharpedo, who had been hired as protection for the barge, followed it for the whole route. However, the well-traveled sea-lane was relatively safe and no serious issues were encountered on the way.

            Diego was nudged awake five mornings later. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Ned standing over him, smiling.

            Ned said, “Hey Diego, we have arrived. We are coming in just as the sun is rising.”

            **I wonder what that’s a reference to?**

            Diego got up just and stood up next to Ned. The two of them then quickly moved up to the front of the barge. They could see that the barge was navigating between two arching barriers, with watchtowers on top of them, into a small harbor. The harbor of Semberta Town was at least the size of Kez village’s harbor.  The pair could not get the best view of the town due to the lack of light, however they did see that the docks were not very busy. Only a couple of the docks had vessels in them out of at least eight total slots.

            The barge docked in the harbor as the sun continued to climb into the sky. As the barge’s cargo was being unloaded, Ned and Diego walked off the barge and into the town.

            As the duo were walking through the harbor area, Ned pointed to an empty dock and said to Diego, “Do you see a Pokémon by that dock? I wonder what she is doing, just standing there?”

            Diego looked over to where his friend was pointing and saw a Riolu standing on the dock. She was just looking out at the sunrise, alone. Diego then responded, “There’s no harm in asking her what she’s doing, right?”

            Ned nodded back and the pair of friends walked down the dock until they reached the Riolu. Even when they were directly behind her, she did not turn around. She simply asked, “Zane, Paul? Is that you two?”

            Diego looked over at a confused-looking Ned for a second and then replied, “No miss, we are not Zane and Paul, whoever they are. We are new here and were just curious as to why you were out here by yourself so early in the morning?”

            **It won’t be long until Zane and Paul show up, though.**

            The Riolu turned her head around to partially face the two friends. She then replied, “I just come out to the docks every morning to watch the sunrise with minimal obstructions. My name is Ana, by the way. What are your names?”

            **Readers who just came from the ending of the previous story should remember her.**

            Ned responded, “My name is Ned and this is my close friend Diego. We just came to town. By the way, while we are talking, do you know where the local inn is?”

            Ana replied, “Oh yes, the inn, it’s the largest building in town. It is actually just north of where we are standing now.”

            Diego finished, “Well thank you miss, we will be on our way now.”

            Ana nodded and returned to looking at the sunrise as the two friends left to find the inn. Diego and Ned walked quickly away from the docks. It did not take long for the two friends to find themselves at the inn, just north of the docks. As the pair approached the inn, Diego suggested, “You know Ned, for now you have the most money between us, by far. Once I get enough money, I can pay for my room, but for now…”

            **Diego is politely asking for Ned to pay. Thankfully, Ned understands his situation.**

            Ned interrupted, “I know, I will pay for our accommodations for now. Let’s just go inside and see how much a room with two separate beds costs.”

            Diego opened the door for Ned and the duo walked inside the inn. The wooden interior of the building was filled with many tables and chairs for eating. A large bar, flanked by a pair of staircases, was present at the back of the room. A Mawile was tending the bar, using her large pair of secondary jaws like a third arm as she moved glasses around and washed them. As Ned and Diego walked over to the bar the Mawile asked them, “And who might you two be?”

            Diego replied, “Two friends wanting to rent a single two-bed room for the foreseeable future. What does that cost?”

            **He was pretty upfront there, now that I am re-reading this I notice that.**

            The Mawile gave Diego a bit of a look as Ned retrieved his money pouch. She then responded, “A single room with two beds is 14 Poke per week at the moment. I was also wondering who you two are.”

            **I guess that she agrees with me.**

            As Ned got out 14 Poke, which he handed to the Mawile, Diego continued, “My name is Diego and my friend here is Ned. We just came in and are hoping to find some work out here.”

            As the Mawile finished counting the money Ned had given her, she said, “Well, my name is Sherry, I am the barkeeper and apprentice manager of this establishment. Welcome to Semberta Town. We serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, but only two meals a day are covered by the normal room package. Also, a lot of the other guests come in to drink juice, milk, etcetera in the evening after dinner just so you two know.” Sherry then gave Diego a key for the room. The key was numbered 211.

            **I never mention alcohol in my ROC stories. I honestly wonder if it even exists in this world?**

            Diego took the key and said, “We will try remember all of that information.” 

            **It was a reasonable amount, after all.**

            Ned nodded and added, “Thank you Sherry. I think we will check out the room, then explore the town and return for dinner.”

            Sherry nodded and went back to washing a glass with her actual arms as Diego and Ned walked up the right staircase to the second floor.

            The two friends walked into their room, which, as promised, had two beds. Next to each bed was a very small crate, presumably for storing items. There was also a window, facing north and equipped with curtains. The two friends each picked a bed and Ned placed most of his money in his crate. Diego kept his few Poke in his pouch and each of them sat down on their bed and faced each other.

            Diego told Ned, “I think I have a plan. Why don’t we spend most of the day getting our bearings in this town so we do not get lost in the future. Then, when evening falls, we return to the inn and see who we can talk to about getting jobs in the area that will start us on the path to glory and adventure.”

            Ned nodded his agreement and then said, “That actually sounds like a decent idea, we should get breakfast and head out as soon as possible.”

             The two friends then left the room, locked the door, got breakfast from Sherry and set out into the town to do some exploring.

            **That concludes the first chapter. I will have a few more serious development insights to share in later chapters. This story ramps up a bit faster than its predecessor did.**


	2. New Allies

            Diego and Ned had spent almost the whole day exploring the town. They had eaten lunch at a café near Semberta Town’s northern wall. Then, they had explored the area just inside the wall for a while. They had seen that the wall was a multiple stories tall stone construct with wooden roofed watchtowers similar to the ones on the coastal barriers near the harbor. In between the towers, on top of the wall, there were a few catapults. The catapults looked like they could be loaded with boulders or bundles of Blast Seeds.

            After exploring the town’s interior for a few hours, after having walked along the northern wall, darkness began to fall over the town and the duo began to return to the local inn to have dinner and drinks.

             As Diego and Ned were walking along the docks, a couple of blocks from the inn, they both heard an unfamiliar female voice shouting, “You two, hold it right there!”

            **As I mentioned in my first Author’s Cut story, I seemed to like the trope of a voice from “off-screen” introducing a new character.**

            The pair held their position as they saw a female Dratini slithering her way toward them. She was wearing a brown band with a silver badge attached to it. Once she got up next to the two they saw that the badge had the words “Dock Patrol” written on it.

            The Dratini examined the duo and then she seemed to calm down. She explained, “Oh, I see your pouches. I was worried that you were wild Pokémon trying to infiltrate the town. However, I do not recognize either of you? Who are you guys?”

            Diego replied, “My name is Diego and this here is my best friend Ned. We just arrived in this town. Seeking adventure and glory and all that.”

            The Dratini nodded and said, “Well, if you are interested in adventure I have heard from my boss, the dock patrol leader, that a foreign organization with that sort of focus has set up shop in town in an office not far from the inn. Apparently, they call themselves the ‘Guild.’ The Guild’s members wear brass badges grafted to their skin if I am correct. I was thinking of checking it out myself later. By the way my name is Aurora… Sorry for my rude introduction.”

            **That paragraph brings the P.A.G. into this story and introduces the female lead in one go.**

            Ned said, “Well, it is good to see that whoever is patrolling the docks is alert. We were just returning to the inn right now.”

            As Aurora turned away she responded, “You know, I have a single room at the inn for the moment. I might see you all there later on.” Aurora then waved goodbye with her tail and left.

            **The tail wave was a cute little gesture in my opinion.**

            The duo then returned to the inn and walked inside. Upon entering the inn, they saw that there were guests sitting at both the tables and at the bar. The pair walked up to the bar where they saw Sherry who pointed to a pair of empty stools at the bar’s left edge.

            Diego and Ned sat down at their stools. As Diego looked down across the bar he noticed that Ana was sitting on the stool next to his.

            Ned spoke first, saying, “Oh hey, I remember you, Ana, wasn’t it. It’s nice to see you again.”

            Ana turned to face Ned and Diego. Once she was facing them, the duo saw that on her chest was a brass badge with the letters P.A.G. on it.

            **How interesting…**

            Diego looked at the badge Ana was wearing and asked her, “Hey, Ana, what is that badge on your chest?”

            Ana looked down at her badge and then back up at the duo. She then replied, “This is a Pokémon adventurers Guild badge, it denotes active membership in a team sponsored by the Guild.”

            Diego asked Ana, hoping to find out more information in a polite way, “Why are you in the Guild?”

            Ana cocked her head, but then smiled at Diego and Ned, she responded, “It is kind of a family thing, actually. My mother and father were both Guild members and their stories convinced me that the organization was a force for good in the world. I came up here to help with setting up the local office and, what do you know, I ended up in a team myself.”

            **I guess Guild membership became a family tradition.**

            At that point Diego and Ned heard a male voice from behind Ana ask, “Hey Ana, who are you talking to?”

            Diego and Ned saw a Sableye leaning out from behind Ana and then a Psyduck leaning out from behind him. Both of them were wearing the same type of badge as Ana.

            **Reading that bit again gave me an entertaining mental image.**

            Ana told Diego and Ned, “These are Zane and Paul, they are my teammates.”

            The Sableye added, “Yes, my name is Zane. I am the unofficial leader of the team. The Psyduck behind me is, as Ana said, Paul. He is another member of our team.”

            Paul said, “Our fourth team member, Cordelia, is in the room she shares with Ana. She is somewhat introverted and only comes down for meals.”

            **I wonder why?**

            Ned could not help but ask Zane, “If this Cordelia does not like being social, then why did she join a team of adventurers in the first place?”

            The trio looked awkward and then Zane replied, “Cordelia did not have much of a choice in joining us, she was a member of a gang of outlaws who robbed the local bank just over a month ago. The three of us, acting on our own, pursued the criminals into the wastelands north of town. While the ringleader escaped, Cordelia and many others were apprehended.”

            Ana continued, “Cordelia fought well against us. However, we brought her in. She was willing, unlike all of the other captives, to be released from prison in exchange for joining our team. She seemed to dislike the criminal lifestyle and want a way out, anyway. If she tries to escape and gets caught, then she gets returned to prison, with a double sentence.”

            **The Cordelia-Kyla parallels are definitely present.**

            Paul said, “She had told us she has no intention of escaping. However, we made her share a room with Ana because we do not want to leave her alone for too much time.”

            Zane then finished, “Also, she is a Meditite, and they spend a lot of time meditating alone. Anyways, I still think that Cordelia got lucky with the deal she was offered. I had to complete my entire prison sentence!”

            **I guess that it’s quite obvious that Meditite meditate.**

               Diego and Ned’s eyes widened and Diego asked, “You were an outlaw as well? Why exactly are you willingly in an organization that fights them now?”

            Zane gave Diego a bit of a look and then said, smiling a toothy smile, “Ever heard of the phrase, ‘if you can’t beat them, join them.’ Guild work is an effective and reputable to make a living for someone like me who has spent a lot of time fighting. My old criminal associates never did go straight, however. That is another story, though.”

            **I wonder how many times in narrative series, the starter villain of part I appears as an important ally in part II.**

            Ana then laughed and said, “Funny enough, my mother and father’s team were the ones who brought Zane in.”

            **I certainly remember that sequence. It was the first combat in Wake of Humanity.**

            Zane sighed and continued, “Ana’s mother hits hard. Yes, the story is true. I actually named myself Zane soon after I left the continent to the south and came here. I gave myself a real name as a way to symbolically change myself as I was changing my life, going from being an outlaw leader, to a bounty hunter, to a Guild member.”

            Ana then said, “In Zane’s defense, my mother was an outlaw for some time as well before entering the Guild. She joined her gang out of necessity, however.”

            **That is probably a major part of why Ana learned to trust Zane, despite him having been an enemy of her parents.**

            Paul chimed in, “Zane and other’s motives aside, we still do not know Cordelia’s motivation for becoming a criminal. Also, while we are doing introductions, I am the only one in my team native to Semberta Town, actually. Anyway, I think the three of us have said enough about ourselves. What about you two?”

            Diego had been thinking for a while as Ana, Paul and Zane had been talking and he then asked, as Ned was about to speak again, “Before we get on to that subject, what does it take to form a Guild team?”

            **Here we go again! In a good way that is.**

            Ana said, “Four willing Pokémon signing some contracts and getting the badges and toolbox that come standard. My old friend Alfred and his assistant Riko are running the new Guild office in town. The office is not far from here.”

            **Sounds easy enough…**

            Diego nodded as Ned began to explain the duo’s past to the trio of Guild Pokémon.

            The group of five Pokémon spent the remainder of the evening telling stories from the past. Ana talked by far the most, telling everyone about her parents’ team’s adventures. Zane and Paul had already heard most of the stories, but Diego and Ned were both fascinated by the tales of adventure and war. Later on in the night, Ana mentioned that her parents did not know she was working with their old foe and that she was still worried about their reactions if or when they figured that out.

            **I can see why Kyla and Chad would be more than a little concerned in this case.**

            That night, Diego and Ned both went up to their room and sat on their respective beds. Ned started things off by saying, “Well, we have learned a lot today. We have made a few new friends… and not made any lasting enemies. I think we are off to a good start.”

            Diego replied, “Ned, I think we should create a Guild team, both of us have been in fights before and I think that the P.A.G. is possibly the fastest way to what both of us want. Adventure for you, Glory for me and money for the both of us.”

            Ned cocked his head and then pointed out, “The main problem with that plan, which I do like overall, is how do we double our number so that we have four members and can create a real team?”

            **The same problem Kyla ran up against, I will admit.**

            Diego admitted, “I don’t know that yet, old friend. Still, tomorrow we should get right on finding a pair of willing allies!”

            Ned smiled and replied, “I like your enthusiasm! Tomorrow, we will begin our search for new allies. Now, it’s been a long day, so good night.”

            Ned got up, closed the curtain and headed back to his bed while Diego turned down his tail fire so the pair could sleep effectively.

            **That was a fun little reminder of the protagonist being a Charmander.**

            The next morning, Diego woke up to find that Ned was still in his shell and fast asleep. He, as quietly as he could, got up from bed and then tiptoed out of the room. He, very quietly and carefully, closed the door behind him and then walked down to the first floor.

            **The shell bit was a fun nod to Ned’s species. I got two in a row!**

            Upon his arrival on the first floor of the inn, Diego saw Sherry serving a couple of guests who he did not recognize. He was about to walk over to the bar to talk to her when he heard a voice call out, “Hey, Diego I think it was. Why don’t you sit over here?”

            Diego turned to find that it was Aurora who had called him and she was “sitting” on a stool eating some pancakes. As Diego walked over to where Aurora was sitting and took a seat across the small table from her, she continued, “Sherry probably noticed you coming down and will be over here to take your order in a moment. Anyways, how was your evening last night?”

            **That reminded me of the pancakes at Chansey’s inn in the first story.**

            Diego was pleasantly surprised by how friendly she was being and responded, “Ned and I spoke with some members of the local Guild team. We heard quite a few stories from them afterwards. It seems that the Guild has done a lot of good work around the world. Ned and I want to start our own team now.”

            After Sherry came over, took Diego’s order and then returned to the bar. Aurora said, “Well, that is good news for you and Ned, who I assume is still sleeping. I wonder if Guild work involves fighting a lot of wild Pokémon? Do you think so, Diego?”

            **She sure seems to hate wild Pokémon…**

            Diego replied, “Probably if it involves going out into unclaimed lands on missions. I heard a story last night about Guild members defeating a dangerous wild Onix who had declared himself the king of a series of mines.”

            **That being a more deliberate callback to part I.**

            Aurora then said, “In that case, why don’t I join up with you and Ned?”

            Diego looked very surprised again, asking her, “But you already have a job?”

            Aurora nodded and said, “Yes, but I can quit whenever I want and my current job is a bit dead-end anyways.”

            Diego then told Aurora, “We would still need one other member in order to obtain Guild recognition. That might still get in the way.”

            Aurora thought that over for a moment and then told Diego, “It’s simple in that case. If you find one more team member, then you come directly to me. I will quit my job, join you three and we will be set. Deal?”

            Diego said, “I would have to consult with Ned.”

            At that point, Aurora smiled and Diego got a tap on the shoulder, he whirled around to see a smiling Ned who asked, “Consult me about what?”

            **That bit was somewhat amusing to me.**

            Aurora replied, “If you two find one more team member than I am more than willing to be added on as your fourth. Then we can get recognized by this Guild.”

            Ned grinned and replied, “Sounds great to me! Well, Diego, it looks like we only have one more team member to find before we are off to adventure.”

            Diego told Aurora, “He is normally like this.”

            **Another funny little moment.**

            After Ned playfully punched Diego, Diego’s food arrived and Ned ordered his. The three Pokémon ate together and then Aurora departed for work shouting as she slithered out the door, “Let me know if, or when, you two find our last team member.”

            Ned then added, “I will make sure the room is locked and then we will set out.”

            Ned went up, locked the room and then, once again, the pair of friends set out into Semberta Town.


	3. Guild Office Frontier

            Diego and Ned had just walked outside the inn when Ned asked Diego, “So, what is the plan? Where do we go to search for our final recruit?”

            As the pair continued to walk away from the inn, Diego told his friend, “Now that I think about it, why don’t we just go to the Guild office? We can alert the staff as to our intentions. Also, we can see if anyone else is applying for Guild membership while we are there.”

            **A valid strategy back from the first story.**

            Ned nodded and the two of them headed off to the Guild office. It was not long before they reached a small wooden, one story building with a large plaque above the door, which read “Pokémon adventurers Guild: Frontier Office.” 

            Ned and Diego both looked at each other and nodded, then they opened the door to the office and walked inside.

            Upon entering the office, the duo saw some crates that had not yet been unloaded and a wooden desk, which was at the center of the room. A door behind it led into a darker back room. Also behind the desk was a large map of the frontier continent, which hung from the wall. A male Pikachu was sitting at the desk looking over a sheet of paper. He looked up from his paperwork and saw the two visitors. He smiled and began, “Hello, welcome to the Pokémon Adventurers Guild office for the frontier continent. My name is Riko, how can I help you?”

            **Finally, the mascot species of the whole franchise appears in a meaningful way.**

            Diego replied, “We are actually trying to form a team with your Guild. We have two members here and a third Pokémon pledged to join us if we found a final member. Therefore, we just need one more member and we are set.”

            Riko seemed impressed and looked over Diego and Ned. He then thought for a moment and said, “Well, I love your enthusiasm, but I do not think any other local Pokémon have expressed interest since our last team was formed. I should check with my boss to see what he might know, however.”

            Riko called out “Hey, Mr. Alfred, we have two potential new recruits for the Guild. Please come out here to meet them.”

            A male voice from the back room called out, “Riko, stop calling me Mr. Alfred! Anyway, I’m coming. Hold on a moment.”

            **That is a major recurring gag in this story, in case you did not already know.**

            It was not long until a Sneasel wearing a Guild badge emerged from the back room. He walked up to Diego and Ned and shook both of their claws. Alfred asked the duo, “So, you both want to join the P.A.G. that is excellent. I actually overheard your earlier conversation, you say you need only one more Pokémon, right?”

            Ned stepped in this time and said, “Yes, we do want to join your Guild and we only need one additional member in order to complete our team.”

            Alfred said, “Well, since you need another member in order to get registered… why don’t I join with you? I already have a badge, after all.”

             Riko looked deeply confused and quickly exclaimed, “Boss, you were ordered by your father to run the Guild operation on the frontier. He never instructed you to go out into the field yourself.”

            Alfred replied, “I know what my father ordered, but I want to fight for the Guild and put my, albeit limited, field experience to the test. Besides, if I go out with a team, I can more easily personally locate human artifacts. Also, he never ordered me specifically not to join a team.”

            **Alfred is the only member of the main team in this story to be directly connected to the first story’s characters. His name came from Batman’s loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth.**

            Diego asked, “Human artifacts?”

            **Considering where he grew up, he probably never heard much about that kind of thing.**

            Alfred replied, “My father, Shade the Zoroark, founded the Guild to assist with his research on humans. Along the way he got involved with some other issues….”

            Ned’s eyes widened and he exclaimed, “Oh, your father is Guild Master Shade! We heard about him from a Guild member named Ana last night,”

            Alfred smiled and responded, “Yes, my father runs the Guild at its highest level. It really is my family’s business. Ana is an old friend of mine, if you must know.”

            The door to the Guild office opened and Riko said, “Speaking of Ana…”

            Ana walked into the office, followed by a Meditite who Diego and Ned assumed had to be Cordelia. Cordelia had her arms folded and was asking Ana, “Nothing against you, but why do I have to follow you everywhere you go while we are in town?”

                   Ana replied, “Because, as I have said before, we do not trust you enough to leave you completely alone in the inn.”

            Cordelia just sighed and shook her head. She then walked over to a corner, which she leaned against and closed her eyes.

            **She seems quite sullen. Considering her position, it makes some sense.**

            Ana then walked over closer to the desk and asked, “Well, Diego and Ned, nice to see you two again. What are you two doing here… of course, you were inspired, weren’t you?”

            **She catches on quickly, it would seem.**

            Riko then interjected, saying, “Ana, Mr. Alfred wants to join with these two and their apparent third member to form a team. Please talk him out of it, you know what his orders were!”

            Alfred glared at Riko as Cordelia, Diego and Ned all looked at Ana, who felt a bit awkward, but then said, “Riko, I am not Alfred’s superior. Arguably, he is both my superior and yours. While his father is the Guild Master, he is not here now. Alfred is the highest-ranking Guild Pokémon here and a such he can make his own decisions, such as joining an active team. Besides, Guild Master Shade never gave Alfred a direct order to not join an active duty team.”

            **That backfired on Riko very quickly.**

            Alfred then continued, “Anyway, Riko, you will become the primary manager of this office. This place probably does not need two of us to run it anyway.”

            Cordelia than asked Ana, “Can we go now? I know you just wanted to check in with Alfred?”

            Ana sighed and responded, “You should just consider yourself lucky we do not keep you in inhibitors when we are not on a mission.”

            **That might have been a little bit mean of her…**

            That statement quickly shut up Cordelia. She sighed and then timidly said, “I am sorry I brought it up, Ana. Take your time.”

            Ana smiled over at Cordelia and said, “Thank you.”

               Riko then spoke up, “Mr. Alfred, you are technically in command here. However, I sincerely caution you against joining an active duty field team!”

            Alfred confidently shot back, “You are going to be in charge of the office once we unload our remaining supplies. As for me, I am going out into the field!”

            **He seems enthusiastic about the whole idea now.**

            Riko sighed and said, “I still believe that the Guild Master will be severely displeased.” He then put his head down on the desk.

            Alfred then asked Diego and Ned, “Who is our last potential member?”

            Diego had been trying to follow all of the exchanges that were going on, but then he focused on Alfred and replied, “A Dratini named Aurora who has been working with the dock patrol offered to join up with us, but only if we could find a fourth member. You fit the bill of a fourth member, obviously.”

            Alfred then asked, “Where is this Aurora?”

            Ned responded this time, saying, “She is probably working now. Fortunately, she is staying at the same inn as us.”

            Alfred seemed confident as he said, “Ok then, you two will locate Aurora and when you do then you will all return here and we will register as a team and receive a toolbox. You three will also receive team badges at that point.”

             Riko then asked, “Well, boss, will you at least help me unload crates until your new teammates come back?”

            **He did not want to do all of that work all by himself.**

            Alfred laughed and then said, “Of course, Riko, we will unload as much as we can before they return.”

            Ana then interjected, “Cordelia and I should be going now. Zane says he has some work for us to do north of town.”

            After Ana and Cordelia left, Diego said, “Nice to meet you both. Now, Ned and I will go and wait for Aurora to return to the inn.”

            Alfred saluted Diego and Ned, who returned his salute. Then, Diego and Ned returned to the inn to await Aurora.

            Diego and Ned waited for Aurora all day. However, by the time they went upstairs to their room to go to sleep, after being served lunch and later dinner by Sherry, she had not appeared. Zane and his team had apparently headed north on some kind of mission, so they were also not around.

            The next morning, Diego woke up before Ned, again, and went downstairs to the first floor. He was pleased to see that Aurora was there, eating her breakfast.

            Diego walked over to a smiling Aurora. As he sat down, he told her, “Well, we found a fourth member yesterday!”

            Aurora seemed excited as she responded, “That was actually far quicker than I thought it would be. I was thinking that it would take you two at least a few more days to find our final teammate.”

            **Apparently it did not. I did not want to spend five chapter on the team-assembling this time.**

            Diego replied, “The head of the town’s P.A.G. office, Alfred, wanted to join our team, actually. It seemed like he wanted to get out of the office and do some field work. He sees our ‘team in potentia’ as a way to do that. With him, we will have a full team and can register. He already has a Guild badge anyways.”

            Aurora said, “Ok then, once I finish breakfast I will go to quit my current job and then I will meet you, Ned and this Alfred at the Guild office. You should go with Ned to the office and tell them that I’m coming.”

            Diego replied, “Sounds good to me.” Then, he ordered some breakfast from Sherry. By the time that Ned had come downstairs, Aurora had left. Diego told Ned about what happened with Aurora and then, after Ned ate his breakfast, they pair returned to the Guild office.

            Diego and Ned found Alfred and Riko in the Guild office. There were a number of supply crates still out, but they were now almost emptied. Riko and Alfred were unloading one of the final crates when Diego and Ned entered the office.

            **They must have had quite a bit of stuff to unpack.**

            Alfred looked up, as Riko continued working, and smiled as he saw the duo having entered the room. Alfred then asked the pair, “So, did you two tell Aurora about me and our new arrangement?”

            Ned told Alfred, “Yes, she should be on her way here. She is going to leave her job with the dock patrol to join up with us.”

            Alfred responded, “In that case, Riko and I will get all of the paperwork ready for the team’s creation. You two just wait around here until Aurora shows up and we will get this show on the road!”

            In about an hour, Aurora slithered through the door and saw that Diego and Ned were looking over some paperwork. Riko and Alfred had just completed unloading the second to last crate and moving its contents to the back room.

            **At least Riko will not have that much left to unload.**

            Alfred walked up to Aurora and said to her, as he shook her tail, “I assume you are Aurora. Welcome to the office, we have your paperwork ready when you are. Sorry if I am rushing this, but I want to get out into the field relatively quickly.”

            As Aurora nodded and followed Alfred to the stack of forms, Ned said, “Now we can all sign the forms and get to adventuring!”

            **Ned remains as enthusiastic as ever.**

            As the four Pokémon began to fill out their Guild contracts with Riko overseeing the process, Diego thought, “Well, things are going well for now. Hopefully this Guild is the best route to glory and wealth around here. I have no intention of letting down my parents!”

            **I thought that that paragraph did a decent job of showing Diego’s mixed altruistic and selfish motivations.**

            After all four new teammates had filled out their contracts completely, Riko came out with a team toolbox and a prod with a Guild badge on the end of it. He had two other badges at the ready. Riko then looked awkward as he asked, “Who will go first?”

            **That brings me back to the similar sequence in Wake of Humanity.**

            Alfred already was wearing a badge, so he was left out of this part of the process. He seemed very relieved about that fact. Ned stepped up and volunteered. Riko stepped forward and then told Ned to hold still. Then, he jabbed the brand into Ned’s chest. Ned’s shell protected him from feeling that much pain from the branding. However, he still cringed a bit from what pain there was.     

            **The Guild branding process remains as strange as ever.**

            After Ned was done, Aurora slithered forward and Riko loaded another badge on to the prod. Aurora hissed with pain as her badge was pressed into her chest. She was able to relax soon after, as the pain subsided.

            Finally, it was Diego’s turn. He stepped forward and puffed out his chest as Riko loaded the final badge onto the prod. Riko shouted, “Let’s finish this!” as he jammed the prod into Diego’s chest. Diego was able to mostly resist the pain, due to being Fire Type, but he still did not enjoy the branding.

            **Nobody gets out of that process unscathed.**

            With all four team members branded, Alfred said, “Well, everyone, I admit we still need to get to know each other a bit more. However, we should go and look for our first job on the Sheriff’s bulletin board as soon as we can.”  

            Alfred’s new teammates nodded their mutual agreement and the group agreed to retrieve any supplies they thought they would need and then meet back at the office while Riko unloaded the last supply crate.

            Alfred and Ned went to go buy some items for the toolbox, while Aurora and Diego went to make sure their inn rooms were secure. Aurora seemed very excited at the prospect of fighting wild Pokémon. Diego, on the other hand, did not have much to say due to being overwhelmed by how fast his life had changed. He just hoped that it would be for the better.

            That day at noon, the newly formed team met back at the Guild office. They then had a quick lunch, which had been picked up by Alfred and Ned. Finally, they walked over to the northern part of town where the Sheriff’s office and the local prison were located. When they arrived, they found a bulletin board outside the door to the grey stone, one story building.

            **The bulletin boards are a PMD staple that I am happy to use for my stories.**

            Alfred pointed out, “As some of you might know, the prison for this town is located beneath the Sheriff’s office.”

            Aurora replied, “I knew that. Now, lets’ go check out the board.”

            **That was some more random exposition. It may become important later?**

            The four new teammates walked up close to the bulletin board and noticed that it only had one notice on it at the moment. The notice said, “Farm worker Shroomish missing. Please go to 200 out-wall way for more information. Reward to be given to rescuers upon safe return of farm worker.” 

            Diego said, “Well, team, I guess we have our first mission.”

            **With this story, I wanted to get into the action faster than the last one. The main plot rears its head, in some form faster, as well in this story.**


	4. Out into the Wastelands

            Diego and his, newly formed, team were all standing in front of Semberta Town’s bulletin board. As Alfred removed the notice listing what would be the team’s first mission, the four of them heard a voice saying, “So, you are going after that missing Shroomish?”

              **Yet another example of the “voice from off screen” trope.**

            The team turned to see a female Blaziken who was wearing a brown band with a large gold badge on it. She was standing in front of the office with a pair of Combusken dutifully standing behind her.

            Aurora replied, “Yes, Sheriff Takara, we were just about to head off to the farm where he worked.”

            **Takara was a name being considered for Akira the Weavile from the first story. However, I ended up saving the name to use in this story.**

            Takara replied, “Well, good luck in that case. I need to go meet with Elias and give him a report on my questioning of the recently caught outlaws. If you all see Zane, tell him to report to me as soon as he can about the prisoner who got transferred to his team.”

            Takara and her two deputies left as Diego asked Aurora, “Who is Elias?”

            Aurora responded, “He is the mayor of Semberta Town. He is an older Electivire who is on his third term as mayor at the moment.”

            **Semberta actually holds elections for the mayoral office. Unlike Polumbos town, that is.**

            Alfred then spoke up, saying, “We should be on our way out of town now, anyways. Lets’ move out!”

            The newly minted team marched out of town with Aurora and Diego in front and Ned and Alfred bringing up the rear. Within an hour, they had reached the address 200 Out-Wall Way. There was a large farm with a red barn and a tall, grey silo for storing grain at the address.

            As the team entered the property, Aurora explained, “The farms outside of town are in much greater danger from criminals and wild Pokémon than the rest of town. This is, of course, because they are outside the wall, which protects the town proper.”

            Ned asked Aurora, “Are you native to Semberta?”

            Aurora looked more than a bit awkward as she replied, “No, Ned, I am not originally from Semberta Town. However, I have lived here for the past year or so.”

            **She seems to have something to hide…**

            The team made it to the porch of the wooden two story farmhouse where they saw a Breloom emerging from the front door. He walked up to them and asked, “Now, who are you all?”

            Alfred stepped forward before Diego could and said, “We have responded to the notice you had posted on the bulletin board and are hoping for more information on the missing farm worker.”

            The Breloom seemed pleased as he replied, “It’s good that somebody is willing to take my request on. Now, down to business. I sent a group of three farmhands up north to scout out some trees that had been sighted by flying scouts, which might be growing valuable berries. I gave them a map to where the trees should be. However, only two of my farmhands returned here, claiming that they were attacked by a pack of Fire-Type wild Pokémon. Since they were all Grass Type, they retreated. One of them, the Shroomish in question, was lost in the confusion of their retreat. Fortunately, the farmhands who made it back brought my map back, so you can try to use it to see if you can locate him in the wastelands. I would hope that he has found a good place to hide and is still alive out there.”

            Alfred felt a bit nervous, possibly because of the mention of Fire Type Pokémon in the area. Diego took his chance and stepped forward to say, “Sir, we will take your map and march north to see if we can find your lost farmhand.”

            **Diego’s desire for recognition drives him to try and take charge, or at least appear to take charge, whenever possible.**

            The Breloom looked pleased and replied, “Great, if you all do find him and get him back here safely, then you will each be rewarded. In part by me and in part by the local government.”

            **The Shroomish in question was still a citizen of Semberta Town. So, the local authorities want him back safely as well.**

            After Breloom gave them the map, the team nodded, saluted him and left the farm, traveling north. On the way, they checked their team toolbox and confirmed that they had four Oran Berries, two Heal Seeds and Two Reviver Seeds.

            **That is roughly what items Kyla’s team started with.**

            The team traveled north for the rest of the day along the route that their map indicated. Eventually they found an area with some rocky outcroppings that looked defensible. There, they decided to make a camp for the night and continue on the next morning.

            After gathering some sticks, Diego used his tail to light the campfire and the team members sat down around it to eat their rations.

            Alfred looked over his allies gathered around the campfire and asked them all, “As I already explained to some of you, I ended up in the Guild because my father founded it. I was groomed to continue on his research from soon after I was born. What I would like to know from all of you is why you decided to join up with the P.A.G.?”

            Ned said, “I will start us off, I come from a small trading village on an island to the south of here. My father made a good living as a dock manager, but I never wanted to follow in his footsteps. I am not immensely interested in making large sums of money, or even winning glory. I just want to experience the thrills of adventuring! Also, now that I think about it, I do want to see justice done when necessary.”

            Aurora then slithered up and said, “I joined up because I hope that I can do more for my community here than on the dock patrol. Also, I do not like wild Pokémon. They waste their intelligence and act like nearly mindless brutes! I would like to show a few of them what civilized Pokémon are capable of!”

            Realizing that she had been shouting during the later portion of her statement, Aurora slithered backwards awkwardly.

            **Another mildly amusing moment, in my opinion.**

            Diego’s three teammates turned to him as he said, “Coming from a very poor family, as Ned knows, I did not join this organization to adventure for its own sake. I want to gain glory and money for my family and myself. Eventually, I want to be able to move my parents over here so they do not have to subsist back home anymore.”

            Once Diego was finished Aurora could not help but ask, “So, you are doing this whole thing for selfish reasons?”

            **Awkward…**

            Diego gave her an indignant look and replied, “I would not put it that way. My family is in need and I feel as though I have to do something about it!”

            Aurora, not wanting to start a conflict more than she already had did not reply. Diego still gave her a brief glare as she retreated.

            **That could not have been good for their friendship.**

            Ned, realizing the conversation had “gone south” chimed in, “So Alfred, it seems like you and Ana from the other team are good friends.”

            Alfred blushed a bit and responded, “Ana and I have known each other for years, unlike her younger brother, she always wanted to be a frontline Guild operative. Her parents cautiously encouraged her dream and allowed her to go with Riko and I to set up the Guild office in Semberta Town. I have always admired her bravery and willingness to accept others. I assume that you know that her team’s default leader is actually her parent’s team’s oldest real foe.”

            Aurora, also wanting to avoid further discussion between herself and Diego asked, “Alfred, this is none of my business really, but it sounds like you have feelings for Ana.”

            **She was really determined to keep the subject changed, it looks like.**

            Alfred did not seem embarrassed or surprised by Aurora’s comment and responded, “Yes, I sort of do, I guess. However, Ana would never be with me…”

            Diego curiously interjected, “Why?”

            Alfred, sighed and said, “She just views me as a close friend and would never see me otherwise. Why… you would have to ask her yourself. I care about her enough that I shall say no more on the subject without her explicit consent.”

            **This reminds me of a sequence in the last story involving Kyla and Chad discussing their teammate Stephan.**

            The rest of Alfred’s team looked somewhat confused, but they decided not to pressure him to reveal any more information.

            The team then finished eating their food and then took turns keeping watch. Diego took the first watch, but did not detect any wild Pokémon incoming before Ned relieved him. As he did his best to fall asleep, Diego thought, “I wonder what this mission will bring? I just hope that we rescue this Shroomish and get back to town in one piece. It would be terrible for me to have come all the way here only to die so quickly. Besides, death, at least without some sort of a heroic sacrifice, is not glorious at all.”

            **Glory is still at the forefront of Diego’s mind. Even when he is rationally fearing the possible short end of his adventuring career.**

            The next morning Diego was nudged awake by Alfred, he saw that Aurora and Ned were both already awake. The team set out back on the path north. As the wasteland seemed to stretch on ad infinitum, the team noticed a few dots rapidly approaching them. Soon they were able to count four in total. As they got closer the team realized that they were a pack of four Litleo and that they seemed ready for combat.

            Diego exclaimed, “These are probably the Fire type Pokémon that attacked the farmhands!”

            Alfred shouted, “You all engage them, I will try to snipe them with Icy Wind. I am not sure how much it will hurt them, though.”

            Ned stepped up along with Aurora and Diego as they prepared to protect Alfred from the enemy’s attacks.              

            Of the four Litleo, three charged the front line while a fourth circled around to attack Alfred.

            **Despite being wild, they have some tactical sense.**

            The advancing Litleo were moving in fast, but the open terrain had allowed the team to deny them the element of surprise. Ned attacked first, using Bubble to create a cone-shaped blast. Two of the Litleo were caught in the bubbles and severely injured. They both proceeded to Tackle Ned as a counter attack.

            Diego and Aurora both rushed the third Litleo. Seeing as he was about to get tackled, Diego breathed a Smokescreen onto his foe, causing the Litleo to miss. Then, Aurora’s body glowed with energy as she struck the blinded foe with her Dragon Rage.

            Alfred blasted the fourth Litleo with his Icy Wind, however, the move was not very damaging and did not slow the enemy down enough to prevent her from hitting him with an Ember.

            As Alfred recoiled in pain from the flames. Ned stepped back from his attackers and used a point-blank Water Gun to knock one of them out.

            Diego then used a Scratch to claw at the Litleo who had missed, causing her to faint. Aurora blasted the Litleo attacking Alfred with a Twister. The burst dropped the surprised foe.

            As the final Litleo prepared to fire a second Ember at Alfred, he hit her with a Quick Attack.

            The Litleo turned to make a full retreat after blasting Alfred with another Ember. However, Ned blasted her with a rapid Water Gun and she fainted.

            Aurora smiled triumphantly and said, “That will teach them to mess with civilized Pokémon!”

            Alfred then added, “We are a group of adventurers, so we did not have the hardest time with that small, untrained pack. The mostly Grass Type farmhands are civilians who would have not stood a chance.”

            Diego then pointed out, “Well, our first fight as a team was a success! We should focus on that. Now, let’s keep scouring the wastes for that Shroomish.”

            As the team continued following the map to the trees, Ned pointed out, “I just hope that that pack did not eat him, wild Pokémon are known to be predatory sometimes.”

            The whole team nodded solemnly as they continued their march north. As the sun made its way to the center of the sky and onwards, the team eventually saw an object, which looked wooden, far off in the distance.

            Aurora wondered aloud, “I think that could be somebody’s house, but why would a house be in the middle of the wastelands?”

            Ned responded, “Let’s go find out, maybe whoever lives there has seen the missing Shroomish.”

            The team began to approach the house. As they advanced, they realized that it was just a comparatively small wooden shack with a fence around it. As they focused their collective attention on the shack, they heard some growling and turned to see a group of six Bagon advancing on them rapidly.

            **It does not seem all that defensible…**

            Five of the wild Bagon were in as a frontline formation, while the sixth was following in behind. The clouds began to obscure the sun and rain began to pour onto the wasteland at the same time.

            As the front line approached the team, Aurora acted first, using a Twister on a pair of Bagon, dropping both of them with the Super- Effective move.

            A Dragon Breath attack launched by the Bagon at the rear of the formation blasted Aurora. Alfred knocked out another of the charging Bagon with any Icy Wind shot, as Diego and Ned met the two frontline enemies remaining. These Bagon used Bite on Diego and Ned as they engaged them.

            Ned flinched as Diego scratched his foe. Aurora recovered from being hit and advanced on the melee. One of the lesser Bagon dodged a Dragon Rage from her.

            Alfred ran up towards the front line, in order to get a clear shot at the Bagon Leader, who he sniped with an Icy Wind. The Bagon leader responded by having his subordinates both step back and Ember Alfred into heavy injury, while he sniped Aurora unconscious with another Dragon Breath.  

            Diego attacked with another Scratch, but his Bagon still stood. Ned recovered from Flinching as Alfred prevented a Bagon from biting him again by fainting him with yet another Icy Wind. Then, the Bagon leader blasted Ned with another Dragon Breath. Ned was now both nearly fainted and paralyzed.

            Diego realized it was now two versus two. A third Scratch left his foe barley conscious, but still up. Alfred was not looking the best himself, but he rushed up and dropped Diego’s foe with a Quick Attack.

            That left the leader, who sighted Alfred with a Dragon Breath, as the pulse was forming in his mouth Diego realized that the whole team could become dinner if it was left to him, alone versus the inured, but far away and sniping-inclined enemy leader.

            **I kind of like the phrase” sniping-inclined.”**

            Then, a massive blast of flame, a Flamethrower, tore through the air, despite the rain, and brought the Bagon Leader down.

            **Whoever sent that attack out must be powerful…**

            Diego and Alfred looked in disbelief at their fallen foe. As Ned was recovering from paralysis, the conscious team members looked to the shack. Standing in front of it was a single, female Ninetales. She said, “I think you should come out of the rain, bring your unconscious friend inside as well.”

            Diego and Ned picked up Aurora together and, along with Alfred, followed the Ninetales inside her home.

            As they entered the building, Diego thought, “That Ninetales, she knew Flamethrower and it was strong enough to overcome the rain and the Bagon’s inherent resistance. She must be a really powerful Pokémon.”

            **Diego at least has some solid analytical skills. That is a good for an adventurer.**

            Diego and Ned laid Aurora down on a basic rug, where the Ninetales had instructed them to do so. After watching them, Alfred asked the Ninetales, “Ma’am I must thank you for saving us. Since you appear to be our host for the time being, I would like to be able to properly address you. If you have one, what is your name?”

            **Alfred certainly knows how to behave politely. He probably got it form growing up in a wealthy and important family.**

            The Ninetales sighed and replied, “You four are only to stay here for tonight, and once the sun rises and the rain clears up you will be on your way. As for my name, there is no use lying, it’s Arya.”

            **It took two stories to finally give that character a line. …She gets plenty more later in the series.**

            The color quickly drained out of Alfred’s face. He seemed to have heard of a Ninetales with that name before.

            Diego, who knew that Arya’s timely intervention could have prevented them from being dinner, simply replied, as Ned was feeding Aurora a Reviver Seed, “Nice to meet you, miss Arya. Thank you for saving us.”

            **Diego might adventure for selfish reasons. But, at least he knows when to show gratitude where it is due.**  

            As Alfred stood completely still, in disbelief, Arya replied, “I guess that I can take a out few of my emergency rations for you all to eat, get ready for dinner.”

            Aurora woke up and, after Ned told her what had happened, she asked, “Alfred, are you ok? What is wrong with you?”

            Alfred finally opened his mouth to speak…


	5. The Hermit of the Wastelands

            As his entire team was looking at him, Alfred looked their host, Arya, in the eyes and asked her, “Were you ever acquainted with a Pokémon named Mewtwo?”

            Arya gave Alfred a confused look and cocked her head. She shuffled her feet awkwardly and then thought for a moment. She then replied, “Why yes, I was intimately acquainted with a Pokémon named Mewtwo. But, I do not like to talk about it, when I have anyone to talk with at all, that is.”

            **She has been living alone for quite some time. She does not seem to have many guests.**

            Diego and Ned each had to grab one of Alfred’s arms, as he instinctively tried to lunge at Arya. Aurora looked confused as she asked, “Who is, or was, Mewtwo?”

            Alfred replied, “An evil artificial Pokémon who attempted to take over the entire world years ago. The P.A.G. played a major role in stopping him. He was said to have a consort and fiancé, a Ninetales named Arya.”

            **One of the reasons that this story had its predecessor as required reading. Some stuff here, as well as earlier in the story, could really spoil the previous installment.**

            Diego kept holding Alfred back, along with Ned, as Arya smiled and somewhat sarcastically said, “Congratulations, you know about my past! Do you realize that, regardless of my past life, I did possibly save yours? That last Bagon was that pack’s leader and had a range advantage on you all. Once his comrades were back up, they would have eaten your whole group.”

            Alfred calmed down slightly and then asked Arya, “You were the second in command of the Imperium. Last I was told you were locked up in the former imperial city. So, what are you doing here in a shack of a house in the middle of nowhere?”

             Arya replied, “I left the Imperial City and the island it was situated on after my release. I moved up here because I wanted to be far away from all other Pokémon who would judge me. I know that it is risky to live out here, but at this point I do not care much whether I live or die. My life fell apart from the day the Imperium fell. I thought I could do a bit of good, like I actually believed the Imperium was doing, by saving you all and scare the Bagon away from me for the time being, as well. However, maybe no good deed goes unpunished?”

            **And now Arya’s motivations begin to come out. She was originally intended to be more self-interested and opportunistic. However, her character was changed to make her more so misguided later on in the writing process.**

            Alfred was released by Diego and Ned as he calmed himself further, Diego then said, “I guess that you did save our lives, we should be grateful regardless of your past actions and allegiance.”

            Arya then said, “Besides, I could defeat you all easily if you really tried to fight me. I have been fighting for longer than any of you have been alive. For example, I can use the move Inferno to blast all of you at once. Now, lets’ eat dinner. Tomorrow morning you all will leave and be on your way… and out of my hair.”

**I think that the hair reference was appropriate. Maybe fur would have also worked?**

            Aurora then added, “Lets’ just eat, boys. She saved us from the Bagon, so the least we can do is not verbally assault her. Also, I actually feel sorry for her, not caring whether or not you live or die, having no friends or family to live with.”

            **Aurora and Diego act as the voices of reason in this case. It’s funny, since I kind of see them both as being more fiery and less logical than Alfred most of the time.**

            Alfred folded his arms as they all crowded around Arya’s small table and said, “The Imperium’s secret police tortured my mother. She still has nightmares about her time in captivity. However, I guess we have no choice. We will wait out the storm here and leave tomorrow morning.”

            Arya ignored Alfred’s last statement as she served the team their dinner. The five Pokémon ate in silence until Aurora asked, “Arya, have you seen a Shroomish around here recently?”

            **A good question to ask, considering the circumstances of how they reached the shack.**

            Arya looked over to Aurora and then said, “Since you asked, politely, I will answer your question. Yes, a Shroomish stopped by here a couple days ago. He asked me to direct him to a nearby forest in exchange for a few poké he had on him. He said he was going to wait for help from his farm at the forest rather than impose on me or brave the predatory wild Pokémon between my home and the farm.”

            Diego smiled and said, “Thank you for that information, Arya. Now we have a more solid lead for completing our mission.”

            As Alfred remained quiet, Ned added, “We just need to hope that that Shroomish is still safely hiding in the forest.”

            Aurora then smiled warmly and said, “Well, I am glad that I asked.”

            Arya finished her food and said, “Having you all sleep here will clog up some space, but I think it will just barely work. Tomorrow you all will head out and, with any luck, find that Shroomish.”

            **Arya does actually care about others. She is heavily jaded from her past experiences, however.**

            Arya then headed back out to the small home’s only other room, her bedroom, and closed the door while saying, “If you all leave tomorrow before I am awake, then that is fine. Do not expect breakfast from me if you stay long enough. Good night.”

            The team did their best to arrange themselves in the room in a way that left them all, especially Aurora, enough space to sleep.

            **She is not only the only female team member, she may take up a bit more space.**

            Alfred made it very clear to the team that he did not trust Arya, but the others pointed out that either way they would be rid of her in the morning. Diego just thought, “Ideally we will locate the Shroomish tomorrow and then come back to Semberta Town with our reputation as effective adventurers on its way up.”

            The next morning, Diego was woken up by Alfred who said, “Arya is still asleep from what I can tell. Lets’ get moving before she wakes up!”

            The flame on Diego’s tail went on as he woke up fully, which helped wake up Aurora and Ned. As the team packed up and left the shack, without encountering Arya again, Aurora asked Diego, “Would it have been dangerous for you to be out in the rain for too long? I have heard that if a member of your species has their tail flame go out then they die.”

            Diego just shook his head no and sighed. He then replied, “No, that is a myth about us. It is not that if the flame decreases from outside influences we become weaker, it is more that as we are weakened the flame decreases in size. When we are empowered, permanently or temporarily, such as by evolving or through certain moves, the flame grows larger. The flame is hard to put out for any serious duration by an outside force, it will just re-ignite unless the bearer is too weak for it to reignite.”

            **Yes, I know that that contradicts the anime. I frankly found my interpretation to be safer for the Charmander line and similar Pokémon and a cool idea to add to the fanfic series.**

            Ned then told Aurora, “My friend Diego here likes to give that lecture when prompted.”

            **It sounds like Aurora was not the first Pokémon to hear that speech.**

            Aurora nodded and responded, “Well, it is great to know something new.”

            Alfred simply interjected, “I am just glad to be farther and farther away from Arya. We should try to reach the forest by the end of the day.”

            The team started seeing some grass growing from the ground by late morning, by noon they reached the outskirts of a small forest. There were a small number of wild Pokémon there, but they were not predatory and mostly avoided the team. Aurora eyed them with contempt as the team worked their way to the center of the forest.

            Upon arriving at the center of the forest, the team found a Shroomish pacing around a large tree surrounded by bushes with golden berries growing on them.

            They heard the Shroomish mutter, “It was not the trees with the Sitrus Berries, it was the bushes after all!” As they approached him he saw them, which caused him to stop pacing.

             Diego said to the Shroomish, “Hello, we were sent out here to rescue you.”

            The Shroomish happily jumped up a bit and said, “Oh, wonderful, now I can safely return to the farm and tell my boss about these berries. I am relieved that they sent some Pokémon after me, I assume you guys do not come cheap!”

            **He is right about that. At least he survived the wilds of the frontier. The team was almost not as lucky if it were not for Arya’s intervention.**

            Aurora replied, “We are just glad we found you here and that you are alive in the first place.”

            As the group of five Pokémon began to leave, Shroomish mentioned, “You know I was helped a bit by a Ninetales hermit, she helped me to find this forest.”

            Ned responded, “We also met her, she saved us from some wild Bagon.”

            Alfred just grumbled to himself as the group left the forest and began the long trek back to Semberta Town.

            When the team returned the Shroomish to his farm, they received 500 poké each from Breloom and they each received a further 1,500 each, for recovering one of the town’s citizens from the wasteland. That money came from the mayor’s office. Diego seemed overjoyed with the 2,000 total poké he had made from the successful mission and admitted it was far more money than he had ever seen in his life, at least at one time.

            **The first mission has been a success. The real plot starts pretty soon to my memory.**

            The night of the teams return, Alfred went back to the Guild office to reunite with Riko as Aurora, Diego and Ned went back to the inn. When they opened the door, they saw that Ana, Cordelia, Paul and Zane were all sitting at the bar, they all seemed to be in a good mood. The trio was able to claim a table very close to the bar and it was not very long until Sherry came over to them and asked, “I heard, and now see, that you three joined the Guild. How did your first mission go?” 

            Diego replied, “We did fine for the most part, but we ended up needing outside help at one point.”

            Aurora then added, “Thank you for asking, we are all very tired and in need of some good food.”

            Sherry nodded and then took the trio’s orders. As Sherry was returning to the bar to give the cook the orders, Zane noticed them.

            Zane and his teammates turned around on their stools and he said, “Well, everyone, look at our new comrades.”

            **That was admittedly a weird spot to end a chapter. Especially such a short chapter.**


	6. A Meeting of Teams

            Diego, Aurora and Ned had returned to the inn and were sitting at a table near the bar. Zane and his team were sitting at the bar and had just turned to face Diego and his two teammates.

            **I think that a quick recap was a good idea there.**

            Diego asked Zane’s team, “So, you are all back from your mission. How did it go?”

            Zane replied, “We went to check on a reported sighting of some members of Cordelia’s former gang in some hills in the western wastes. We located them, after a bit of searching, and were able to bring a few of them back to Sheriff Takara as prisoners. However, what is even more important is that we were able to determine, via interrogations, that the ringleader is a Banette who has fled farther to the north along with his last few allies.”

            Ana then added, “We were able to recover some more of the stolen money from the bank, which had been given to the criminals we captured. To me, the best news is that Cordelia fought against her former allies with no issues.”

            Cordelia received some looks of surprise from Diego and his teammates and she then folded her arms and said, “I can tell you that I was only with that gang because I needed the money, I was planning on leaving after the big heist whenever I got the chance. That gang means nothing to me. They were a means to an end. Also, this team is a far more lucrative means of making a living, even if a do not have a choice as to when I can leave.”

            Ana then patted Cordelia on the back, saying, “That a girl. You will get used to us at some point.”

            Cordelia tried her best to suppress the smile and blush she wore after Ana patted her on the back. She kept her arms folded, however.

            **She seems to enjoy receiving approval, even if she hates to show it.**

            Paul then finished, “We just need to locate where Banette went so we can retrieve the gang’s main stash of stolen money and arrest him.”

            Aurora asked Zane, “So, how do you all plan on finding Banette?”

            Zane replied, “We know from Cordelia that the gang had a safe house directly north of town. It will be a multiple day journey just to reach the location she has indicated. We are planning on spending another week or two in and around town first. We will possibly do some odd jobs and then set out. Even if Banette is not at the safe house, some of his remaining allies might be there. Even if they have abandoned the safe house, at least we could hopefully find some clues as to the gang’s current whereabouts.”

            As Diego and his teammates food arrived, Ned said, “It looks like you all have quite a plan set up, I wonder if we, including our last team member, could join you on the expedition if we have nothing better to do?”

            **Sounds like a multi-team mission is in the works. Normally the teams split up in the last story. This story has more frequent large battles, to my memory.**

            Aurora nodded in agreement with Ned as Diego thought, “Going with Zane and his team could bring us the recognition we need if the mission ends in the arrest of Banette. We need to go!”

            Diego then announced, “I agree with my friend Ned, we should help you to bring in the outlaw’s leader and return the money his gang stole.”

            Zane responded, “Even though I am the de facto team leader, I will need to take a vote with my teammates. Since we are all here, we can vote now. Who is your last team member, though?”

            Aurora replied, “Alfred from the Guild office joined our team to get some field work in. He left his second in command, Riko, in charge of the office.”

            Ana seemed excited and said, “Well, Alfred did go through with it after all. He did join a field team. It would be nice to fight alongside him again.”

            Zane mentioned, “When I was in prison myself, Alfred’s mother was the Sheriff’s deputy. She was a tough and capable warden for the prison, I will say that. When the war against the Imperium came, and some outlaws were allowed to fight in exchange for an early release she trusted me to fight, which I did. Anyway, seeing as though we have been the ones on the case of catching the bank robbers so far, we will vote as a team now.”

            **Since most Guild teams don’t have official leaders, they have to act as democracies for most decision making. Also, another reference to Alfred’s mother Akira shows up.**

            Ana then said, “All in favor of allowing the new team to accompany us on our mission to the north, raise your hands and say Aye!”

            Ana and Zane both raised their hands and said Aye. Then Zane, looking worried about a tie in the vote, asked, “All opposed raise your hands and say Nay!”

            Paul raised his claw and said, “Nay!” Cordelia just kept her arms folded and said nothing.

            **She abstained.**

            Ana gave Paul a look and asked him, “Why did you vote no?”

            Paul replied, “This has been our team’s mission since before we were a P.A.G. team. I remember volunteering to help you and Zane go after the gang. I want us to finish this case ourselves! It really is nothing against the other Guild team.”

            **Paul also seems to want to hog some glory. He has no hostility towards Diego and company.**

            Then, Ana asked Cordelia, “Why did you not vote?”

            Cordelia replied, “I do not care either way, but I will go along with whatever you want I guess… So, I will vote Aye, sorry Paul.”

            Paul folded his stubby arms and said, “Well, I guess I have been outvoted. I still think we should just go to try and catch Banette ourselves. On the other hand, having more help might be nice.”

            Ana smiled and said, “I guess Alfred and the three of you will go with us then. It will nice to be on a mission with him.”

            Aurora then interjected, “Ana, Alfred should be very happy to go on a mission with you, as well. He spoke very highly of you.”

            Ana blushed slightly as Zane added, “Well, it looks like we are all going after Banette’s safe house. We will let you all know when we plan to leave about two or three days from our departure time. Now, let’s drink to a successful expedition and to the finishing of the case.”

            **Non-alcoholic drinks that is.**

            The seven Pokémon shared a toast and then Ana told some more stories from her parent’s adventurers for everyone. Eventually, it got late enough that the various Pokémon went up to their rooms. Paul went home to his house and his family, since he was a native of Semberta Town. Diego and Ned returned to their room on the second floor and Zane walked back to his single room, also on the second floor. Ana and Cordelia walked up the third floor to their room, followed by Aurora, who was heading to her own single room on the same floor.

\---

            Cordelia ducked into her room and Ana was about to follow her when Aurora asked, “Hey, Ana, could I talk to you for a moment before you go to bed?”

            Ana stopped and looked back at Aurora, asking, “Ok, what do you need, exactly?”

            Aurora took a deep breath and then told Ana, “When we were all camped, Alfred admitted to us that he had romantic feelings for you, but that you would never reciprocate those feelings. He said he would not elaborate further on the issue. I am curious if this is just because you only view him as a friend, or if there is another reason. You do not have to tell me, obviously, but I am interested in hearing the truth.”

            **I probably had Aurora get a bit too nosy again in this sequence. She seems to like meddling in others’ business.**

            Ana simply smiled and responded, “I have known that Alfred has feelings for me for years. I could never be a good romantic companion for him, or any male, though.”

            Aurora looked slightly confused as Ana finished her statement by saying, “I’m gay, Aurora. I am only attracted to other females. Alfred knows that, all of my teammates know, my family knows and now you know. That should answer your question, goodnight.”

            **That was also mentioned in the first story’s epilogue. However, Ana gets more exposure in this story and her orientation actually becomes plot relevant.**

            Ana walked inside her room to go to bed as Aurora slithered back to her room, as she processed what Ana had told her, and fell asleep there.

\---

            The next morning Diego met Aurora for breakfast on the first floor of the inn. After they had both ordered their food Diego said, “Today, we need to make sure we go over to the Guild office and let Alfred know about our new arrangement with the other team. Since the expedition will not be for a week or two, I hope that we can find some other jobs before then.”

            Aurora replied, “Hopefully whatever other jobs we receive can be more easily completed than our last one. We might have only survived thanks to Arya’s intervention on our behalf. In other news, I learned last night why Ana is not interested in Alfred.”

            Diego interrupted Aurora by saying, “Not to be rude, but I am not sure if I care. I think that it’s between Ana and Alfred. It is really not my business to interfere in other’s love lives, or lack thereof.”

            **Diego seems to respect others’ privacy more than Aurora does.**

             Aurora thought for a moment and sighed, saying, “I don’t think, based on her willingness to tell me, that Ana would mind me telling you. However, if you are not interested than I will not bother you with it.”

            Diego nodded and added, “Yes, there is also the matter of Ana’s privacy to deal with here, not only my lack of interest.”

            **Diego seems to be not very interested in gossip. That shows that he respects privacy more than Aurora seems to.**

            Aurora then mentioned, “You know, I have been thinking of something else that I should tell you. I actually want to apologize, at least partially, for what I said while we were camped out the first night of our mission.”

            Diego, who had mostly forgot the incident responded, “Thank you for the apology. Since this seems to be actually my business, why are you apologizing now?”

            Aurora answered, “I know that you said you wanted to adventure for the glory and wealth, when you admitted that, I thought you were very selfish. Then I thought more about how you said you were trying to get those things to help your family. I realized that since you come from different circumstances from me that I should not necessarily be judgmental of you and your motivations.”

            **That was a good mature moment for Aurora, in my opinion.**

            Diego nodded as Aurora finished her statement and then responded, “Well, it is great that we can put that all behind us. Just wondering, though, you mentioned our different circumstances. What was your upbringing like? If you do not mind me asking.”

            Aurora blushed and then looked to the stairs and saw that Ned was coming down. She then said, “Well, it looks like Ned has arrived. We should probably include him in the conversation, shouldn’t we?”

            **She definitely wants to avoid that topic…**

            As Ned sat down with his pair of teammates Diego took the hint that Aurora did not want to discuss her past at the moment.

            The three teammates ate breakfast together and then set out for the Guild office. When they arrived at the office, they saw that Alfred was chatting with Riko about his team’s first mission. When Alfred saw the rest of his team coming through the door he said, “Well there you three are. I was hoping you all would show up soon. We should begin looking for some new jobs when we can.”

            Ned then told Alfred, “About that… we actually agreed to go north with Zane’s team in one to two weeks. Their team voted three to one in favor and all three of us want to go. So, we should not take any far-ranging jobs until the expedition.”

            Alfred responded, “Ok, I can get behind that, another mission with Ana would be nice. I assume it was either Cordelia or Paul that voted no?”

            Alfred’s teammates replied, “It was Paul.”

            Then Aurora added, “Cordelia abstained at first, but then she voted with Ana and Zane in favor of traveling north with us. Paul did not want anyone else on his team’s case, so he voted no.”

            Alfred then ordered, “Riko, mon the office while we go out to look for some other jobs in the vicinity.”

            **I enjoyed using the terms “mon” and “monned” instead of “man” or “manned” in my Pokémon stories.**

            Riko saluted his superior and said, “Will do!” Riko looked to have gotten used to running the office while Alfred had been away on his team’s first mission.

            Diego and his teammates reached the bulletin board, where they took a couple of minor requests. They spent the next four days building up money and combat experience doing local odd jobs requiring a group of their caliber. On the fifth day, Ana and Zane informed the team members staying at the inn that they would all leave on the big expedition in three days, to make it more likely they would encounter some outlaws still in the safe house. The team was told to be ready at the town’s northern gate in the morning the day they were to leave.

            After taking care of one more job and making sure their toolbox and rations were stocked up, Diego’s team met with Ana’s team at the northern gate of Semberta town in the early morning on the day the expedition was set to begin.

            Zane looked over the group of seven Pokémon plus himself and said, “Ok everyone, here is the plan. Cordelia and I will be in the lead since she knows the way to the safe house, which is in a canyon about four to five days north of Semberta Town. Then, Ana and Paul will fall in behind us and finally, the second team will bring up the rear. You all can decide your own marching order, just follow us closely.”

            Paul added, “I am still not the biggest fan of this idea, but there is strength in greater numbers.”

            Cordelia spoke up to say, “I just want us to wipe out that gang so my connections to that part of my past are eliminated!” She then quickly quieted down as eyes turned to her.

            **She is certainly shy…**

            Ana then finished, “We will do everything we can to make this mission a success! Lets’ move out now!”

            The two teams began the march north to the safe house, as the sun rose higher above Semberta Town.


	7. An Expedition to the North

            The two Guild teams spent the next two days marching due north towards the canyon that supposedly concealed the outlaw leader Banette’s safe house. For the first two days, the expedition did not encounter any trouble from wild Pokémon or, for that matter, anyone else. Zane chalked that up to the comparatively large size of the group, which caused wild Pokémon to not want to risk attacking them.

            On the third day, of what was expected to be a four to five-day trip, the group saw a small herd of wild Pokémon approaching them. One of the Pokémon was considerably taller than the six others following her. 

            Upon closer examination, the herd was revealed to be a group of Amaura who were being led by a single Aurorus. The herd began to advance faster as Zane shouted, “Ok everyone, Cordelia and I will take the leader of the herd. The rest of you, pick a foe and try to bring them down.”

            As the herd charged at the two teams, Zane and Cordelia engaged the Aurorus while the two Amaura flanking her peeled off to attack Ana and Paul, each. The four remaining Amaura veered around the emerging fight to attack Diego’s team. 

            Alfred shouted, “Not sure how helpful I will be against these foes. I assume these are not predators. They are probably attacking us for intruding into their territory.”

            **Generally, I grouped wild Pokémon as being territorial, predatory, or peaceful. These are of the territorial variety. The enemies Diego’s team fought earlier in the story were predatory wild Pokémon.**

            An Amaura rushed Diego, but he blasted his foe with an Ember as they approached. Then, the Amaura blasted Diego with a Rock Throw attack. He recoiled in pain, but then he heard a shout of “I’m here for you buddy!”

Ned rushed in and knocked out the Amaura with a Water Gun, which was more effective then Diego’s ember had been.

            Another pair of Amaura rushed in at Aurora who dodged one of their Rock Throw attacks, while another struck her. Then, Aurora said, “My turn.” And blasted both of them with a Twister.

            **I imagined Twister as an area-effecting burst that the user could accurately target to strike multiple enemies at once. Mud Bomb, Sludge Bomb and other moves work similarly in my stories.**

            Alfred took a Rock Throw from the last Amaura and staggered back. He then ignored the foe attacking him and used an Icy Wind to bring down one of Aurora’s targets with a headshot.

            Diego watched as Ana had already dropped her target with a single Force Palm and was moving over to assist Paul with his target, who had dodged his Water Gun. Zane and Cordelia were fighting the leader, who was blasting the two of them with Powder Snow bursts emanating out from her body.

            Diego and Aurora were then caught in a burst of Powder Snow and both recoiled back in pain. Diego soon finished off their assailant, whom Aurora had already injured, with an Ember. Aurora turned to go help Alfred by charging the last Amaura and hitting her with a Dragon Rage.

            Ned then finished the Amaura off with a second Water Gun, after she had sniped Alfred with a second Rock Throw. The very last Amaura then fell to Paul and Ana. This left the leader alone.

            The Aurorus detonated another Powder Snow over her foes, including Ana and Paul, however she quickly fell to a final series of attacks from Zane’s team, who were coordinating their attacks effectively.

            Ana confidently said, after the Guild teams emerged victorious, “They were no match for us.”

            **She seems to be the confident and energetic type. She has not tasted failure yet.**

            As Zane ordered the march to continue, away from the unconscious herd, Aurora mentioned to her teammates, “Well, we now know that Zane and his team are the real deal. They had no issue with that powerful wild Pokémon!”

            Diego added, “Yeah, I think Zane is the strongest Pokémon here by a decent margin. Let’s all be glad that he is now hunting outlaws instead of leading them.”

            Ned nodded his agreement as Alfred finished, “Zane was one of our first recruits down at the office. His time as an outlaw leader has given him a lot of combat experience. Therefore, he acts as the leader of his team in combat.”

            The expedition made its way north for the next couple days until they reached the canyon. There, they found imposing rock walls on both sides of them. They saw what looked like a blanket of snow and ice covering the ground on the other side of the canyon. However, before they could reach that area, they found a cave. The cave was barricaded by a wooden wall with a slit in it, presumably both for looking through and aiming ranged attacks. Keeping watch in front of the cave was a unit of four Servine who spotted the teams, but held their position.

            Zane ordered, “It looks like this is the ‘safe house’ we have been looking for, it is still being actively guarded. Hopefully Banette, or at least someone or something important to him, is still inside. Diego, Aurora go after the enemy on the left flank, Ned, Alfred, go after the one on the right flank. My team will charge the two in the center!”

            **As the most experienced member of the expedition, Zane is the one who gets to give out orders. His role on his team is similar to Chad’s role in the last story.**

            Diego, who enjoyed the idea of fighting Grass Type enemies, rushed in with Aurora right behind him. As Zane, Ana and Cordelia charged the two enemies in the center, with Paul right behind them, Ned summoned all of his courage and rushed the last Servine while Alfred followed him close behind.

            Diego blasted his target with an Ember while Aurora hit two foes at once with a Twister. The nearest Servine charged Diego and struck him with a Slam after that. Diego withstood the blow, but was clearly injured.

            On the other side of the battle, Ned Tackled his Servine, but got slashed by the foe’s Vine Whip, causing him to sustain severe injury. Then, Alfred sniped the Servine with an Icy Wind, wounding her and slowing her down.

            Zane, Ana, and Cordelia focused on downing the Servine Aurora had not injured while Paul used Confusion on the damaged Servine.

            The two central Servine used Mega Drain on Paul to heal themselves and also faint him. Ana was forced to fall back in order to attend to Paul.

            **Wow, Paul went down pretty quickly there.**

            Meanwhile, Diego jumped back and fired another Ember into his foe as Aurora rushed up to cover him by hitting the enemy with a Dragon Rage. Then, Alfred turned over to the same Servine and dropped him with an Icy Wind. Ned then used another Tackle, before getting Mega Drained and almost knocked out by his enemy.

            **Ned got luckier than Paul in this fight.**

            Cordelia and Zane concentrated their attacks on the more injured central Servine and dropped her, while Ana fed Paul a Reviver Seed. Paul then got back up. He used Confusion on Ned’s target and then ran back to take cover behind a boulder.

            With only two Servine left, one of them used Slam on Cordelia as Diego and Aurora rushed over. Diego breathed another Ember onto the enemy, who was too distracted to dodge and then Aurora used another Twister to blast both of the remaining outlaws.

            Despite his injuries, Ned Tackled his enemy again and then Alfred dropped her with yet another Icy wind.

            The last Servine suffered a Force Palm from Cordelia and a Zen Head Butt from Zane and then a Quick Attack from Ana. He finally fainted from severe injury.

            As the two teams gathered themselves, Paul panted, “That is such a relief, we won!”

            **That fight was not great for Paul and Ned. Obviously, when you are writing Pokémon stories, some fights will be easier for some team members than others. It is a simple reality of the typing system.**

            Cordelia added, “Lets break down the barricade and see if Banette is down there! I want this gang to become history!”

            **She certainly wanted to prove herself useful and loyal to her new allies here.**

            Ana replied, “Agreed. Diego, would you do the honors?”

            Diego launched an Ember into the wood wall, which began to burn. As the wall weakened, Zane launched a Shadow Ball into the center. The precision strike caused the wall to crumble.

            The two teams entered the cave as Zane said, “I was thinking, when we reach Banette, if he is here, we should try to lure him into a false sense of security. We should try to make it look like we can make a deal with him for some of the money.”

            **Zane knows how outlaws think. He was hoping to use that knowledge to his advantage.**

            However, when the expedition force quickly reached the bottom of the cave a moment later, a surprised Ana exclaimed, “Zane, there is no money here!”

            However, what was there was a Banette holding a single, rounded stone being guarded by a group of four Shuppet. Banette looked over at the eight intruders and smiled a wicked smile, saying, “So, you got through my Servine? Well, I was expecting you anyways.”

            Alfred could not help but ask, “Why were you expecting us?”

            Banette then continued, “Not you all specifically, just some strong Pokémon from Semberta Town. You all will make fine sacrifices! And as for the money, it has been sent far away from here. Devotees, bring them all down, show no mercy to any of them!”

            **It looks like Banette was more than a simple gang leader…**

            The two teams had no time to react to Banette’s remarks as two of the Shuppet phased into the walls of the cave and then reappeared behind them. Zane quickly rushed at Banette and his two guards while Ana used Foresight on Banette.

            Diego and Ned decided to break out from the back and they focused on one of the Shuppet, blasting him with an Ember and a Water Gun. Then, the Shuppet dodged an Icy Wind from Alfred.

            **He dodged what was probably the strongest of those three attacks.**

            Aurora detonated a Twister on Banette and his two Shuppet as Paul missed one of them with a Water Gun. Cordelia then used Confusion on Banette who seemed barely damaged by it. Zane missed Banette with a Shadow Ball.

Banette held his round stone, gripped it and Mega Evolved as his body was consumed in a shell of energy. He then counter-attacked by blasting Zane with the same move, Shadow Ball, and retreated back to the far end of the cave.

**Mega-Evolution took far less time to appear in this story, compared to the first installment. It took almost 30 chapter in Wake of Humanity for Mega-Evolution to show up.**

            The two other Shuppet rushed in and both used Night Shade on Ana to knock her out, panicking Alfred. Then, Diego and Ned each took a Night Shade from the Shuppet Guarding the way out and were both left severely weakened.   

            Aurora turned around and used a Twister to drop the most injured Shuppet and weaken the other one attacking her teammates. Then Diego and Ned used a second Ember and Water Gun combination to faint their target.

            Alfred shouted, “That is two foes down!” He then shot one of the Shuppet who had dropped Ana with an Icy wind. Paul and Cordelia then injured him further with Confusion attacks.

            Zane then sniped Banette with a Shadow Ball, weakening him. Banette then fired back with his own Shadow Ball again and Zane began to look significantly injured.

            The last two Shuppet fell back to protect their leader, but not before hitting Paul with two Shadow Sneak attacks.

            Alfred Shouted, “We are going to need to drop the guards! Once we do that, the others can take Banette out!”

            Alfred sniped the least damaged Shuppet with Icy Wind, while Cordelia used Confusion to drop the more injured Shuppet. She did so while standing over Ana’s body to protect her. Paul then used another Water Gun to blast the last Shuppet unconscious.

            Then, Ned rushed forward to try and reach Banette, along with Diego and Aurora. They were now in range as Banette, realizing that the fight was lost shouted, “I will not let my servants be captured!” He then rushed forward and used Night Shade to knock out Ned as another Shadow Ball from Zane missed him.

            Diego shouted, “Ned!” in panic. Aurora then jumped at Banette with a Dragon Rage, but he dodged again. Then, Paul and Cordelia both attacked him successfully with Confusion.

            Banette was able to still evade one of Alfred’s Icy Winds, as Diego aimed carefully and breathed an Ember at Banette, which caused him to, finally, drop to the ground, unconscious.

            **Banette was possibly my most evasive “Boss” enemy in this series. He dodged an incredible number of attacks from the two teams.**

            Zane breathed heavily as he shouted, “Yes! We got the lead outlaw, we will take them all in as captives and learn where the money from the bank is and… learn what he meant by sacrifices….wait?!”

            As Zane finished his sentence Banette’s Mega Evolution wore off, and then something unexpected occurred. Banette and all four of his Shuppet began to be covered by a black light. The black light soon consumed the bodies of all five of the outlaws and then a small ball of rainbow energy floated up above the ground where each of their bodies had been. Then, the balls of rainbow energy seemed to be sucked thought red holes that opened up in the air and then closed immediately after.

            **That does not normally happen to defeated Pokémon…**

            All six of the conscious Guild Pokémon’s jaws dropped. Zane just looked at the places where their fainted foes had just been and exclaimed, “WHAT? Alfred, go outside and see if the Servine are still alive out there! Cordelia, do you have any idea what the fuck that was?”

            **That is the only time the word “fuck” appears in ROC. I thought it was fitting considering how shocked Zane was at that moment.**

            Diego just stood there, along with Aurora, in disbelief as the confused Alfred ran outside. Cordelia told Zane, “Sir, I also have no idea whatsoever what just occurred! I was never told about anything remotely resembling this!”

            Diego then fed Ned a Reviver Seed as the rest of his allies continued to stare at the ground in confusion. All that was left of Banette and his guards were some black traces on the ground outlining where they had lain.

            Soon after Ned woke up and joined the disbelief, Alfred came back and shouted, “Guys, the Servine did NOT get consumed by that effect! We can still bring them back to town.”

            Cordelia then fed Ana a Reviver Seed and she was filled in on what had happened. Ana said, “We should bring the four Servine back to Semberta as prisoners and see what they know. If necessary, we will show them this part of the cave. Maybe we can learn what Banette meant by sacrifices and what happened to both him, and the money from the bank.”

                Zane nodded and told his allies, “We will restrain the surviving outlaws and then prepare for the journey back home.”

            **This expedition became a source of new and unexpected complications. This is essentially where this story’s main plot begins.**

            The two, still deeply confused, teams locked inhibitor collars on the four fainted Servine before they could wake up. Once they all woke up, the four prisoners were escorted into the cave where they expressed as much shock at seeing the outlines as the Guild’s Pokémon had. After the expedition rested the night, with the captives always being watched. The Guild expeditionary force marched their four prisoners all the way back to Semberta Town over the next five days.

            When they finally made it back to Semberta Town all members of the Guild expedition were rewarded with 3,000 poké. The Sheriff, Takara, also took in the four Servine to be interrogated after she was told of all that had happened. 

            The night of their return, the Guild Pokémon, including Alfred were staying in the inn’s first floor to have dinner and discuss the expedition. They could not think of any explanation for why their final group of enemies had vanished and they felt certain that their foes were dead. They assumed that there was no supernatural force in that cave that could have caused what occurred since Ana and Ned were not consumed after they had fainted. They also had a feeling that Banette had known what would happen and that was how he knew if he also fainted, his servants would not be captured.

            The eight Guild Pokémon went to bed with mixed feelings about their expedition’s success, all of them were hoping that the Servine would at least give Takara and her deputies some answers about where the money from the bank had been sent before the expeditionary force arrived.

            **The plot thickens…**


	8. The Next Town Over

            Aurora, Diego and Ned got up the next morning and then immediately got breakfast. Due to being tired after their recent expedition, they all had slept in to the point where it was close to noon. After eating brunch together, the three teammates decided to go to the Guild office to see if Alfred had any new information for them.

            When the teammates reached the Guild office, Alfred was sitting at the desk. He saw his allies arriving and told them, “Riko is out getting some supplies for the office, now that I am back.”

            Diego then asked Alfred, “Do we have anything new on what happened to Banette and the Shuppet, or any new leads in general?”

            Alfred responded, “Sheriff Takara and her deputies were up all night interrogating the new prisoners. They were not able to discover the reason for the outlaw’s disappearance upon their defeat. The Servine really were as surprised as we were by that! However, they were able to grant us two leads worth noting.”

            Aurora asked, “What is the first lead?”

            As Diego and Ned looked over at Alfred eagerly, also wanting to know what leads had emerged. Zane and his team entered the office.

            Zane asked Alfred, “Have you told these three what we now know?”

            Alfred responded, “I was just about to do so, it looks like these three got up late.”

            Ned then said, “It looks like Zane’s team already knows what new leads we have.”

            **That was kind of obvious in retrospect.**

            Ana added, “We have already divided up upcoming tasks based on our leads. Alfred, let them know what the plan is now.”

            Alfred told his teammates, “Each team is going to pursue a lead. Our team is going to pursue the easier one. Because of our lesser overall skill, of course. We were able to learn from the Servine that Banette had a second in command who had left the group before their bank heist. The second in command was a Lampent who had a couple of Litwick as his bodyguards. The timing of their departure from the gang lines up with information on a new candle shop opening in Cocen Town, which is just a single day down the coast by land to the west of here. We are going to leave tomorrow for Cocen and see what we can learn from Lampent, whether or not we need to involve the local authorities in the process. Hopefully we can get him to talk.”

            Then Paul spoke up to say, “We have voted as a team and decided to go after the other lead ourselves, since we have the overall stronger team.”

            Ana continued, “Apparently Banette handed off a lot of the money to a Garchomp, who was escorted by a pair of Gabite. That trio then departed off to the north through the canyon and told Banette that they would alert the gang when they wanted his help again.”

            Cordelia finished, “Apparently, my former gang was hired by someone else. The goal was not just to raid the town to steal the money from the bank. They wanted to steal the money for a reason. I do not know what that was. I joined up after Lampent had already left with his two bodyguards. I was hired as extra ‘muscle’ for the heist. The four of us are going north, through and past the canyon, to try and track down the Garchomp who hired Banette.”

            After Cordelia was finished talking, Diego thought, “Well we have been given the easier job. We will get less glory from that. However, since we are not as experienced as Zane’s team, this is most likely for the best. I just hope that in the future we are trusted to take on bigger missions.”

            **Diego still has his mind set on his initial goal at this point in the story.**

            Aurora then asked Zane’s team, “When do you all leave?”

            Zane responded, “You all should leave to talk to Lampent tomorrow. We will leave the same day. There is no time to lose!”

            Alfred added, “We will spend the rest of today getting ready to leave. Our team should not need to resupply as much, since we are not going far. We should be back in three or four days at the absolute most.”

            Ned then asked Zane, “Your team should be gone for an indefinite period of time. What do you plan to accomplish on your expedition?”

            Zane responded, “We intend to recover the money that was stolen from the bank. If we do not accomplish that, then we will at least get some more leads in that direction. If we are gone for three whole weeks… then assume that we failed in some major way.”

            Ana then admitted, “I am a little nervous about this mission, our goal will not be as clearly defined this time and we will be alone, far away from any support. Still, we need to follow what leads we have. And I have a bad feeling about what happened to our last batch of enemies. We should try to learn what happened to them as soon as we can.”

            **Zane’s plan was certainly risky. We shall have to see what happens on their expedition…**

            Cordelia added, “I have no one to come back to, I am willing to take the risks this expedition will give us to finish this case. Also, I am not a volunteer. Besides, as a prisoner I have no choice.”

            Ana gave Cordelia a somewhat apologetic look. She looked to be thinking of how empty Cordelia’s life had to be.

            Paul then said, “Zane is committed to going after this lead and I want to retrieve the money that rightfully belongs here, in my home town. So, I will go as well!”

            Zane finished, “We are all willing to go and finished this. I admittedly want to find out where Banette got a Mega-Stone because I want one for myself. Also, Ana and Cordelia could use Mega-Stones later on.”

            **Almost every member of Zane’s team can use Mega-Stones. Only Paul cannot do so. That sets his team apart from the other adventuring teams in my series.**

            Aurora then interjected, “I understand the need for my team to go on the job that is more appropriate for our experience level. Let’s get ready everyone.”

            Diego sighed and nodded as Ned and Alfred nodded, with more enthusiasm then him.

            Zane and his team left to begin preparations, saying that they would not see Diego’s team for a while because they would leave from the north exit instead of the west exit of Semberta Town the next day.

            Before Ana and her team could leave, Alfred embraced her and whispered, “Ana, please come back alive, for me. I cannot stand the idea of anything terrible happening to you!”

            **Also, her family would never see her again.**

            Ana whispered back, “You be safe as well. You are a great friend and I do not want anything horrible happening to you, either.”

             Ana and her team then left the Guild office. Soon after that, Riko returned and got to work sorting out the new supplies he had purchased. Alfred and his team made sure to restock their rations and toolbox items soon after that.

            The next morning, Diego and his team gathered at the western exit to Semberta Town. Ned said, “We should all be ready now. Lets’ go locate Lampent and see what he knows about Banette.”

            Diego nodded and said, “We should get going so we can return to town and do some other jobs before Zane and his team return.”

            **Diego is still interested in making as much money and building as much reputation as he can.**

            Aurora and Diego led the way with Alfred and Ned bringing up the rear as the team marched toward Cocen Town.

            The team walked along the coastal road until evening fell. They could see the lights of Cocen, not far away, when they heard growling and saw a pair of Pokémon fast approaching them.

            Aurora shouted, “It’s a pair of wild Tyrunt! They are probably on the hunt!”

            **They are pretty brave, or arrogant, to try and engage a larger group. They are outnumbered two to one here.**

            The pair of Tyrunt rushed in, charging into the team. Diego got Bitten and flinched from the pain. At the same time, Aurora took a Bite, but withstood the pain from the attack.

            Aurora slithered back a bit and then blasted the two Tyrunt with a Twister. However, they both took the attack and remained conscious.

Ned targeted the pair of foes with a cone of Bubbles, injuring them both further.

            Alfred then blasted one of the two Tyrunt with an Icy Wind. This brought that foe close to unconsciousness.  

            As Diego was recovering from flinching, one of the Tyrunt, the more injured one, rushed Alfred and used Stomp on him. The other used Bite on Aurora, causing her to flinch.

            Diego recovered from flinching and then rushed the Tyrunt attacking Alfred. He clawed his foe in the back with a Scratch and then Alfred finished him with his own Scratch.

            **The old flank-and-shank, as I like to call it.**

            Ned blasted the foe that had used Bite on Aurora with a Water Gun, but the Tyrunt persevered.

            Then last Tyrunt used a Stomp on Ned, but Ned remained able to fight. As the Tyrunt turned to retreat, Alfred blasted him with an Icy wind. And Aurora recovered from flinching and unleashed her Dragon Rage to finally drop the foe.

            **I like the phrase “Unleashed her Dragon Rage.”**

            As the team members were recovering from their fight and prepared to move on. Diego and Ned smiled as their bodies began to glow brightly. Diego evolved from Charmander to Charmeleon and Ned evolved from Squirtle to Wartortle.

            **As this story gets into the action faster, it makes sense that main-team evolutions would begin to happen faster as well.**

            Aurora said, as Diego and Ned slapped their claws together in a “high five”, “Well, look at you two! We should hurry to Cocen Town now, however.”

            **I also thought that the claw high-five was a cool little touch.**

            The team managed to reach Cocen Town, just before its eastern gate was closed for the night. Cocen was a smaller town than Semberta and had a much smaller harbor. The team managed to secure three temporary inn rooms. One was for Diego and Ned, one was for Aurora and the last one was for Alfred.

            **Diego and Ned are used to sharing a room together.**

            The next morning, the team quickly ate breakfast. Then, after having asked the innkeeper where the new candle maker’s shop was, they set out to speak with Lampent.

            The team walked into a marketplace where, after over ten minutes of searching, they found a large overhanging awning with a small counter under it. There was a Litwick at the counter.

            The team walked and slithered up to the counter and Diego asked the Litwick, “Is your boss, Lampent, here?”     

            The Litwick politely responded, “Yes sir, he is here. Now, why do you ask? I can sell you whatever we have to offer. I have his permission to do business with any customers we have.”

            Alfred then stepped forward and looked the Litwick in the eyes, he said, “This is about Banette. We need to know about him because he has disappeared, literally! Before our very eyes!”

            **Alfred decided to drop any pretense of subtlety in this situation.**

            The Litwick looked surprised, muttered something under his breath, and then responded, “Fine, I will go get my boss and see if he is willing to speak with you.”

            The team waited as the Litwick went back to locate Lampent. They watched for any signs that could indicate an attempt to flee the premises.

            **They do want to have to chase their target through a crowded marketplace.**

            After a few moments, a Lampent appeared and floated over to the team. He sternly told them, “Whoever you four are, I am not involved in criminal activity anymore. If you try to arrest me, then I will make a scene. The Pokémon here in Cocen know me. They will trust me over you all, since I have been peacefully living here.”

            Diego, deciding to take charge, stepped forward and said, firmly, “We are not here to arrest you. But, your former boss, Banette, who we did try to arrest, vanished in a pulse of black light when he fainted.”

            Lampent opened his eyes wide and gasped, “He actually perished?”

            **He seems legitimately surprised that that happened.**

            Aurora added, “We need to know if there was anything in his past that could have led to what happened. His quartet of Shuppet bodyguards also vanished once he was defeated!”

            Lampent sighed and told the team, “I have some idea of what happened, but not a complete idea. Follow me to the back of the store. My assistant will keep running the counter.”

            The team carefully followed Lampent to the back of the store, where they entered his tent. The tent was not heavily furnished. It had a chest in the back and a rug in the center.

            Lampent invited Diego’s team to sit of the floor, which they did. He then told them, “As long as you make no effort to arrest me, I will tell you what I know about Banette and why I left him. I want all of you to swear to Arceus that you will not try to arrest me, understood?”

            **Like in many Pokémon fan works, “Arceus” replaces “God” in my stories in common parlance.**

            Alfred responded, “You have not committed any crimes against Semberta Town, so you are out of Sheriff Takara’s jurisdiction. As long as you do not tell us of any crimes you committed directly, you should be ‘in the clear’ now. So, would you please tell us about your former leader?”

            **Alfred was willing to deal with a former criminal in order to get necessary information. Even to the point of telling him how to not incriminate himself.**

            Lampent nodded his entire body and began, “I was second in command of the outlaw gang Banette led. I even had my own direct subordinates in the gang. For years, we ruled the underworld in this area. All of the minor outlaws in the southern frontier had to either join us, or at least acknowledge our superiority. Everything was going fine for us, until one day a Garchomp and his minions visited our main safe house. Garchomp came bearing a gift for Banette, a Mega Stone. Because of that, Banette agreed to a private talk with him.”

            Ned interrupted at that point, “We heard that some of the money from the gang’s recent bank heist was given to a Garchomp!”

            Lampent then continued, “Interesting…. Anyways, after his meeting with Garchomp, which lasted for around ¾ of a day, Banette began to change. He started talking about recruiting new members for the back heist, which Garchomp had convinced him to attempt, but also about how the heist was preparation for a larger attack that our employers would help us perpetrate. He did not tell the whole gang this, but he told me that the population of Semberta Town was to be ‘sacrificed,’ to whom I do not know.”

            **Now things start to get darker. This story was even more willing to acknowledge death in the Pokémon world than the last one was.**

            Diego surmised out loud, “The meeting that Banette and Garchomp had must have been crucial in changing him for the worse.”

            Lampent responded, “Exactly! Banette began to become more distant from me as the gang built up its forces for the raid on Semberta Town. He told me that the gang would take over the town once the inhabitants had been sacrificed, but he never told me why the sacrifices had to occur.”

            Aurora then asked, “Do you know what the deal with the vanishing was?”

            Lampent quickly responded, “Banette mentioned that if he and his guards failed in their mission that they would become ‘willing sacrifices.’ That is what scared me enough that I realized I could not be in his gang anymore. I think Banette was preparing to tell me something big. But, like a coward, I took my direct subordinates and fled once I made my decision. Banette never sent any members of the gang after me. I think he was preoccupied with other matters.”

            Alfred thought for a moment and then said, “Banette and his guards must have become ‘willing sacrifices’ when they fainted from the battle with our teams. It looks like Garchomp is, indeed the key to this whole thing.”

            **So, maybe it was good that Zane and his team went to chase after him?**

Diego said to Lampent, “Thank you for your help. We will be on our way now.”

            The team was leaving when Lampent said, “Tell the Pokémon in Semberta that I am sorry I did not warn them. I did not want me and my associates to be arrested in the process. I hope that you do stop Garchomp. He needs to pay for what he has done… and he probably still poses a threat to civilization.”

            **Lampent seems to show some actual regret for his past actions here.**

            The team left the tent and the shop and then returned to their inn. The next morning, they left Cocen Town and made the trek back to Semberta. On their way back, the team fought off a few small groups of wild Pokémon who were hunting for prey. When they returned to Semberta, Alfred filed a report with Sheriff Takara.

            The team met at the Guild office soon after their successful return. Diego began, as Riko was in the back room, “Zane’s team is, as expected, gone for now. Hopefully, they will defeat Garchomp. Of course, that is the best-case scenario.”

            Ned then asked Alfred, “You were at the office when Zane formed his team. Why do you think Zane is so zealous about capturing outlaws when he was one? He has pursued the bank robbery case very intensely!”

            **That was a good question, now that I think about it.**

            Alfred responded, “Well, Ned, from what I have learned about our friend Zane, he has viewed the outlaw lifestyle as ‘dead-end’ ever since he was apprehended. He decided that being a burden on others while being a social outcast was not worth it. At the same time, his former underlings did not end up sharing his change of heart. They ended up back in prison soon after their initial release. Zane has held a of grudge against active outlaws since then. He feels that if they are to integrate into society they need to be punished first, like he was. He was willing to accept Cordelia as his final team member because she was and is quite tough. He also thought that forced team service would be a constructive sentence for her.”

            **He is not the same Sableye that he was in Wake of Humanity.**

            Aurora said, “Well, that explains that. While we wait for Zane’s team to return for another… two weeks and around three days to pass we should go do some jobs.”

            The rest of the team agreed with Diego thinking, “Doing more jobs while the stronger team is away will help us to build our reputation here. But, I hope that Zane’s team gets back here safely. Losing them would be problematic for us on multiple levels.”

            Diego and his team spent the next week and a half doing jobs in the Semberta-Cocen area. In the process, they gained more combat experience. They had been fighting both minor outlaws and wild Pokémon packs. They also spent some time rescuing civilian Pokémon who had become lost in the wastelands.


	9. The Second Expedition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter switches over to Cordelia’s point of view.

            **In order to detail the events of the second expedition, I decided to do a two-chapter perspective flip. This is part one of that. It might have been the longest chapter in this story as well.**

            The evening before their team was to set out on their expedition through the canyon, Ana and Cordelia were sitting on their beds in their shared inn room.

            They were both preparing to go to sleep when Cordelia asked Ana, “You know, you have told me and the others that you have a younger brother named Rico. What does he do for a living anyway?”

            Ana looked back over at Cordelia and replied, “Rico was never interested on being in a P.A.G. field team. That is because he is not a fan of travel, unlike me. He once indicated interest in working for our father at the quarry near our hometown. However, he also he did have some interest in eventually assisting Alfred’s father, Guild Master Shade, with his continuing research into humans, their cultures and their technology. That would have required him to move to Megapolis, where the P.A.G. is actually based, at some point. Rico would not want to move because when I left home he was actively dating Diane, the daughter of family friends Rexford and Delilah. However, since I left he might have taken that job? I do not know, to be honest.”

            **Another long expo-dump. I try to work them in organically. However, that can be quite hard sometimes.**

            Cordelia then interrupted, “Wasn’t Delilah the girl from your parent’s team who Zane captured once before he was arrested?”

            **Yes…yes she was.**

            Ana laughed a bit and said, “Yes, Delilah was once briefly kidnapped by Zane, before he even had a name. Keep in mind that I am still nervous about my family’s reaction when they learn I have been working with one of their old foes.”

            Cordelia replied, “Well, your mother was an outlaw and I was an outlaw, still technically serving my sentence. It seems like they would have trouble going after Zane, without being hypocrites.”

            **Ana has told quite a few Pokémon the story of her parents and their team. As has been established earlier.**

            Ana nodded her agreement as she told Cordelia, “Now, I have a question for you. What do you plan to do once Sheriff Takara decides that you have served your equivalent prison sentence?”

            Cordelia thought for a moment, surprised by Ana’s question, then she replied, “Honestly, if the team is still up and running when my sentence is up, I might stay. You make a lot of money on this job.”

            **It looks like Cordelia and Diego are both motivated by financial gain to some degree.**

            Ana said, “Well, yes it does pay well. Either way, I am glad that you want to stay on the team. You are probably our second most experienced fighter, after Zane. You know, I do trust you and one day I would like to know exactly you joined that gang. You can be a bit reserved in public, but you don’t seem malevolent at all.”

            Cordelia could not but smile back at Ana and say, “I don’t consider myself malevolent. I just have had some bad experiences. I just feel comfortable around you. You are my roommate after all.”

            Ana replied, “Well, I am glad that you feel safer around me. I think we should both go to sleep now. Tomorrow, we have to go out on our most dangerous mission yet.”

            After Cordelia nodded her agreement, the two of them curled up and fell asleep quickly, knowing they would need all the rest they could get before tomorrow.

            The next morning, the four Guild Pokémon gathered at the northern exit to Semberta Town. Zane told his team, “Ok, you three, we have stocked as many provisions as we can, as well as healing items, in our team’s toolbox. Our goal is to make it through the canyon and then do everything we can to locate this Garchomp, as well as the stolen bank money. We set off now, by the time we return, the other team should easily be back in town. Lets’ move out!”

            **That last phrase “Lets’ move out!” admittedly got overused in my early stories. That much is obvious by this point.**

            Zane and his team then began to march north. Zane and Cordelia were at the front, with Ana behind them and Paul bringing up the rear.

            After the first two hours of walking Cordelia asked Zane quietly, “Should we give it to her now? We are clear of town.”

            Zane replied, “Sure thing, pull it out of the box.”

            Cordelia nodded to Paul who then, loudly, said, “We should stop for lunch soon.”

            **That was funny…**

            Ana then looked over at Paul and replied, “Paul? I think we should wait a bit more, you always want to eat, you know that?”

            **That was an, albeit minor, indirect development for Paul’s character.**

            When Ana turned back over to Zane and Cordelia, Cordelia was standing right next to her, holding a bright ribbon. Cordelia said, “This is for you, we all chipped in to buy it.”

            As Ana took the ribbon, Paul said, “It was Cordelia’s idea. We got it yesterday when we were shopping for supplies, while you weren’t looking, of course.”

            Ana reached out while smiling warmly at her team, especially Cordelia, then, she took the Sun Ribbon. It was quickly consumed as Ana began to both glow and grow. Ana evolved from Riolu to Lucario.

            Zane then said, “We did not want you evolve to close to town. This way, your Aura Sense will not cause you to detect too many Pokémon at once and ‘overload’ you. Anyway, now you can effectively scan for enemies in the vicinity.”

            **They had a good tactical reason to evolve her at that point. Ana got to avoid the issue her mother had when she first developed her Aura Sense.**

**\---**

            Ana looked into her teammates using her newfound Aura Sense, she knew she would have to practice with it later, like her mother and grandmother both had. She sensed positive emotions coming from both Paul and Zane, and something even more intense coming from Cordelia.

\---

            **That was a quick perspective flip within a perspective flip. …Flip-ception? That was kind of bad, I admit.**

            Cordelia stood on the ground, looking up at the newly evolved Ana she said, “You can thank me later. I thought it would help the team immensely to have you both be able to learn new moves and be able to scan the area for enemies.”

            Ana nodded, saying, “Yeah, thank you all so much. She then leaned down and carefully embraced Cordelia.”

            Cordelia blushed, thinking, “If Ana can sense my aura, then does she know? Well, either way she is not saying anything. I think my secret is safe for now.”

            Ana then stood back up and said, “Well, team, lets’ keep moving. We still have to reach the canyon within around four days and then keep going, presumably.”

            Zane nodded and ordered, “Lets’ keep going! Paul, we will eat lunch once the sun reaches the center of the sky. That will indicate that it’s noon.”

            Paul nodded as the team continued to march north. That evening, the team found a series of rocks to make their camp within. Ana was asked to take the watch during the middle of the night, when the team would be the most vulnerable, because of her Aura Sense. Cordelia had taken the watch shift before Ana. By then, her teammates trusted her to not try to escape.

            **That shows that they have come to trust Cordelia more. At least compared to earlier in the story.**

            Cordelia woke up Ana at the end of her watch. Ana then walked over to a tall rock and leaned against it. As Cordelia was about to fall asleep, Ana looked over to make sure that Zane and Paul were asleep and then looked to Cordelia asking, “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

            Cordelia’s heart felt like it had stopped as she looked Ana in the eyes and saw both confusion and sympathy. She then replied, “You know don’t you, that I am like you?”

            Ana nodded and replied, “My newfound Aura sense revealed to me feelings of deep desire coming from you and they were aimed at me. Cordelia, why did you not tell me before?”

            Cordelia stood up and replied, “I have not told anyone that in a while. When I told my family they unanimously agreed to disown me. Then, I was forced to flee my hometown to the east of here, due to the local’s disgust with me. I ended up surviving in the wild for what felt like a year. I gained experience fighting off wild Pokémon, until Banette’s minions recruited me. My life has been miserable ever since I told the truth for the first time.”

            **Her backstory seems like a combination of Kyla’s and Stephan’s from Wake of Humanity. Now that I re-read this, that last sentence was harsh, but well-written in my opinion.**

            Ana then replied, “Well, that explains why you were an outlaw and why you have been so reserved. But, why do you have such desires for me in particular?”

            Cordelia looked Ana in the eyes and replied, “Ana, you have been so brave about who you are, you have told everyone who asks, I even heard you effortlessly tell Aurora the truth. I admired your courage since I met you and one of the first things you told me was your orientation. It is far from being your only positive quality, of course. Still, it is the one that really captured my attention. I acted all stoic and disinterested around you at first because I wanted to hide my feelings, but as time went on I decided I needed to stop making myself more miserable than I had to be.”

            **I am actually pretty proud of this confession sequence as a writer now that am I re-reading it.**

            Ana sighed and said, “Cordelia, I am flattered. You know, this is the second time that someone has told me they were in love with me, awkwardly enough. Alfred confessed feelings for me in the past before we came to this continent. Of course, I told him that we had to stay as close friends. You know, I actually had a minor crush on my brother’s girlfriend, before they got together.”

            **That reveals a bit more about Alfred and Ana’s relationship.**

            Cordelia interrupted Ana to say, “You know, you do not have to make up your mind now, now that there is a significant height difference between us maybe we should wait until I evolve to even try a date. I do not want to pressure you.”

            **The height difference could be an issue on a date, I guess.**

            Ana replied, “That is quite sweet of you. As you suggested, I will neither reject your advances completely nor start dating you now. Why don’t you get some sleep, Cordelia, we can discuss this more in the future. Even if we never do end up together, I will always be here for you. That is both as a friend and as someone to talk to.”

            Cordelia blushed and smiled as she lied down and tried to go to sleep.

            The next morning, Ana and Cordelia agreed to not tell Paul and Zane about their conversation. The team then continued to march north. They were able to avoid wild Pokémon attacks, in part thanks to Ana, for the next two days. On the fourth day of their expedition, they began to have to deal with some small wild Pokémon packs on the way to the canyon. On the fifth day of the trip, they reached the cave safe house from before, only to discover that the cave had been caved in.  

            **I wonder who did that?**

            As Zane and his team examined the rubble of the cave, Zane eventually came to a conclusion. He assembled his team and told them, “Everyone, it looks like some kind of large Pokémon smashed this cave in. I wonder if Banette’s allies figured out what had happened to him and decided to make sure that this safe house could not be used in the future by their enemies?”

            Cordelia asked, “So, Zane, what do we do now? Do we keep moving in order to try and find Garchomp?”

            Paul and Ana also turned to Zane who said, “Yes, we are going after Garchomp. I think that Banette’s gang might have been just ‘the tip of the iceberg’ and that there is something deeper going on here involving ‘sacrifices’ as Banette said. We will march on!”

            Zane and his team traveled deeper into the canyon and, on the sixth day of the expedition, after fighting off a couple groups of territorial wild Pokémon, they emerged on the other end.

            The four Guild Pokémon looked out to see a massive series of glaciers and fields of ice and snow in the distance.

            Paul said, “We are pretty far north now!”

            **Thank you captain obvious…**

            Ana added, “I think I see what looks like a city or a fortress in the distance. It is resting on the ice and looks almost like it’s made out of ice!”

            Zane said, “I think we should report this, but first we should advance and see if we can gather some intelligence. Maybe we can find and capture an enemy Pokémon who will not just disappear when knocked out.”

            **Last time someone in a story of mine attempted that strategy, it did not go well for them.**

            Cordelia then said, “In that case, let’s keep advancing and see what we find.”

            The team began to advance north towards the fields of ice. On the seventh day of their expedition, they reached the outskirts of the ice fields.

            When they reached the outskirts of the ice fields Zane, being the team’s de facto leader stepped out onto the ice.

            After taking a few steps around, he proclaimed to his allies, “Ok, this ice is surprisingly easy to maneuver on. We should continue to walk north and see who and what we find. Ana, keep scanning for any Pokémon in the area, especially in front of us.”

            **It might have been more snow than ice.**

            Ana nodded as she and the others advanced out onto the fields of, what at least appeared to be, ice. As they continued to advance, Cordelia asked, “Zane, we are not going to march right to that massive structure, right?”

            As Ana and Paul also looked at him, expecting an answer, Zane responded, “No, we are not going to march straight to the structure. That would probably get us captured or killed easily. For all that we know we are in territory ruled by hostile Pokémon, including that Garchomp we have heard about. I doubt we will actually recover the money, which is probably in that fortress, if my intuition serves. We are going to try and locate a small group of enemies and see what we can learn from them.”

            After what felt like another three or more hours Ana told the team, “I am picking up five auras coming in our direction they seem intent on something!”

            Paul then squinted and exclaimed, “I do see five dots coming our way!”

            Cordelia then told Zane, “It seems like you are getting your wish.”

            **Maybe he is…**

            Zane ordered the team to move up and engage the enemy Pokémon. When the team was in range, they noticed a Gabite leading a quartet of Gible, all of whom were wearing White and grey sashes.

            **The very same evolution chain as Garchomp!**   

            The five enemies rushed the team as soon as they were in range. The Gabite used Dragon Claw on Zane, while his minions picked other targets from the team.

            A pair of Gible targeted Cordelia and each hit her with a Dragon Rage. Cordelia felt injured by the pair of hits she had sustained.

            Ana and Paul each also took a Dragon Rage attack from the Gible attacking them.

            Paul then ran back, shouting, “Trust me!” He then unleashed a Water Pulse, which hit every one of the Gible, severely weakening all of them. 

            **I have envisioned Water Pulse as cone-effect, similar to Inferno, for these stories.**

              Cordelia then grinned at Paul and struck one of her Gible with a Force Palm, her Pure Power allowing her to knock the weakened foe out in one strike.

            Ana followed suit with Cordelia, striking one of her enemies with her own Force Palm, which ended up slamming into the target’s face, rendering him unconscious.

            Zane, shouted, “I am not going to hold back here!” He countered the Gabite he was fighting with a Night Shade, nearly dropping him.

            The two remaining Gible fell back and each tried to use Dragon Rage on Zane. He dodged one, but was hit with the other. Then, the Gabite used his Dragon Claw to tear into Zane again. 

            **Zane has gotten a lot tougher since his appearance as a starter villain. He is pretty “tanky” for a Ghost-Type.**

            Paul carefully aimed another Water Pulse to drop the remaining Gible, who were too slow to evade it. Ana then rushed at the Gabite, who avoided a Metal Claw from her.

            Cordelia then moved up and simply looked into the Gabite’s eyes while focusing in. Using Confusion, she blasted his mind, which knocked him out cold.

            **That was a decent description of how Confusion works, compared to the ways I have described it earlier.**

            Cordelia, Ana and Zane had all been slightly hurt by contact with their enemies Rough Skin. However, they were all conscious. Zane smiled his toothy smile and then said, “Great work everyone, they were no match for us. Now, these enemies did not disappear when defeated! I brought an inhibitor collar, on loan from Sherriff Takara, for just this kind of occasion.”

            Zane removed an inhibitor collar from the toolbox and locked it onto the Gabite’s neck.

            Ana then slung the Gabite over her shoulder, since she was the biggest and strongest team member and said, “Lets’ find a place to interrogate him, we obviously cannot wait to get back to Semberta Town.”

            Cordelia pointed out, “There is a small grove of trees that appear to be covered in snow to the west of us, it might take about an hour to walk there.”

            Paul chimed in, “They will at least give us a degree of cover, let’s get moving!”

            Zane and Ana both agreed and the team took their prisoner, who was kept slung over Ana’s shoulder, to the grove. About an hour later, they arrived and found a tree stump to set the Gabite down on.

            Zane ordered, “Ana, we are going to need you to scan for any incoming auras again. The rest of us will interrogate this prisoner once he wakes up.”

            Ana nodded in understanding and replied, “Of course, I will go to the northern edge of the grove and return if I sense any incoming foes.”

            Ana saluted her comrades and then began to walk through the trees. As she disappeared, Cordelia felt faintly sad. Cordelia enjoyed having Ana around regardless of the circumstances.

            It was afternoon when the Gabite awoke and sat up, he looked at his captors and then realized what he was wearing. He then sighed and told them, “I am pretty sure I know what’s going on here. I will not tell you very much, regardless of what you do to me!”

            Cordelia asked him, “Why is that?”

            The Gabite replied, “All I will tell you is that I was sent with my patrol to capture or, if necessary, kill your group. I am far more afraid of what my superiors would do to me if they became aware that I told you anything of importance than anything you would do with me.”

            Zane then stepped in closer and told the prisoner, “You will not be anywhere near your superiors soon. We are going to march you back to Town, where you will be jailed.”

            The Gabite nodded his head no again, saying, “Not that I want to help you anyway, but I would not feel safe there. You might as well release me because I will be no good to you as a prisoner, except for denying the use of me to my bosses.”

            Paul asked, “Do you mean Garchomp?”

            Gabite froze up a bit and said, “Yes, he is my direct superior. And I do not want to do anything, even under great duress, that would earn his wrath.”

            **Seems as though Garchomp can be a “Bad Boss” when his minions disappoint him.**

            Cordelia told her allies, “Clearly this Garchomp does not treat minions who advantage his enemies well.”

            **Cordelia agrees with me on that one.**

            Zane then said, “If you do not tell us anything now, then we will begin marching you back to town as soon as we retrieve our final team member.”

            At that point, Cordelia, Paul and Zane heard running and saw the trees rustling as Ana burst out of them.

            Ana shouted, “Guys, a large number of aura’s are coming this way, fast! There is one with them that felt strange and almost painful to sense. And a few that did not even feel alive in the way most Pokémon feel!”

              Zane shouted, “We are retreating now! Clearly the bulk of this enemy force knows that we are here!”

            Paul and Cordelia grabbed the Gabite off of the stump and with Zane and Cordelia in the front, the Gabite in the center and Ana and Paul bringing up the rear, they began to flee the grotto.

            Unfortunately, the Gabite purposefully tried to walk slowly to slow the group down. Ana ended up carrying him once they left the grotto, causing a lot of complaining on his part. As the team left the grotto, Zane shouted, “The grotto should slow them down!”

            Ana focused in as the team kept moving south. She then said, “I think they have airborne Pokémon who are probably alerting the main group as to where we are. They are avoiding the grotto. With their initial angle of attack, they should not be slowed down much at all!”

            Cordelia then shouted, “In that case, we get back to running and hope they will not pursue us beyond the fields of ice and snow.”

            As the Gabite kept struggling against Ana’s grip, Zane shouted, “Sorry, Ana, but we cannot drop or otherwise dispose of the prisoner.”

            Ana slung the Gabite over her shoulder again as she shouted, “I know, just keep running!”

            The team kept fleeing south over the ice and snow covered terrain when they saw a group of Metang and Beldum flying over them, unimpeded by snow or cargo. The Beldum and Metang did not engage the team, however. They flew until they were ahead of the team and fanned out without keeping too much space in between each of them.

            Paul asked Zane, “They are clearly trying to corner us until the main force arrives! Should we split up and try to make it through individually, or stay together as a group?”

            Zane said, “We need to stay together and try to break through. Then, we will keep running!”

            As the team continued to advance, their airborne foes were joined by some more reinforcements. There were at least six Beldum and five Metang. Ana said, “These were the other strange auras I sensed. It looks like they are moving back as we move up, they are also bunching together. I think they see that we are not splitting up. …And I can see the land unit behind us advancing on us!”

            Cordelia realized that the team was surrounded she asked, “Should we break east or west? South and north are blocked by too many enemies!”

            Zane said, “If we break either way they will see it. Also, we will not be able to escape the glacial plains that way! We are going to have to try to parlay with them.”

            Zane’s team stopped running and then Ana and Zane faced north while Cordelia lined up to face south, covering Ana’s back. Paul covered Zane’s back, also facing south.

            **I don’t do many chase sequences. I think that that was a well-written one. The bad guys here clearly have the home-team advantage in this case.**

            Ana put the Gabite down, but kept holding him as Zane said, “Maybe THIS time I can use a hostage to my advantage.” He then looked to Ana and continued, “At least your mother is not here to punch me in the face this time!”

            **Another callback to Chapter 6 of the first installment. This story is even more of a direct sequel than I remembered it being.**   

            Ana replied, “At least having her here would help, she has more experience than me and one of the others combined, arguably. Also, that nasty aura is moving to the front of the enemy land unit!”

            **Kyla might have been good to have here. Still, the team is quite badly outnumbered here.**

            The airborne Pokémon moved into a hemispherical position to surround the team on the south while the land unit, which was mostly composed of Gible, Gabite, Deino and a pair of Zwelious fanned out to surround them on the north, the team was now totally surrounded by Pokémon wearing white and grey sashes.

            A Garchomp carrying a Mega Stone emerged from the land unit and said, “I saw that you were more than a match for my patrol. So, I decided to not waste any more resources in dealing with you. Despite having a Lucario with you, you remained blissfully aware of my scouts. They were pretending to be lone wild Pokémon and have been watching you since you re-entered the canyon.”

            Ana retorted, “I am still new to using my Aura Sense! Anyway, we have one of your kind captive!”

            **She feels a bit disappointed that she did not see that one coming.**

            Zane then elaborated, “If we return our prisoner to you, then you have to let us return to town alive and free! Do we have a deal?”

            Garchomp laughed and responded, “No way, you all have seen too much and need to be prevented from returning home. Besides, you probably have information we want. If you give it to us, it will delay your eventual sacrifice.”

            **That term comes up once again.**

            Cordelia shouted, “Who are you planning on making sacrifices to, anyway?”

            Garchomp replied, “That is not for you to know, at least not while you are alive. Now, are you going to release my guard Lieutenant and come quietly? Or, do we have to waste time and energy to beat you down?”

            Zane looked defeated and said, “Team, they will not let any of us return alive. Fighting them will not accomplish anything. Let’s vote as a team.”

            **The team democracy idea still stands, even in the worst of circumstances.**

            Zane and Paul voted to surrender, Ana voted to fight, and Cordelia joined her. Then, Garchomp declared, “I don’t care how you all vote, take them away!”

            Garchomp looked on as his troops advanced on the team. As that was happening, the Gabite ran back over to Garchomp, who tore off the inhibitor collar around his neck.

            Realizing that Zane and Paul were not going to fight, Cordelia told Ana, “I am sorry, but there is no point in resisting.”

            Ana nodded in agreement as Garchomp’s Pokémon began to draw inhibitor cuffs which looked more like heavy manacles then the lighter cuffs used by Takara and her deputies. All four team members had their wrists cuffed behind their backs and collars, connecting them in a line, were fastened to their necks.

            Garchomp said, triumphantly, “Good that you all saw reason, it will make the remainder of your lives easier. Air squad, return to our fortress headquarters to alert his majesty and the High Priest that we have dealt with the problem! Land squad G return with them, the prisoners will only slow you down!”

            **Garchomp just made one hell of a tactical error. See the next chapter.**

            The Beldum and Metang, as well as half of Garchomp’s land force, began to march ahead as Zane, Ana, Paul and Cordelia were marched north in the direction of the castle, by Garchomp and a few of his guards.

\---

            Right before she was chained and her Aura Sense was suppressed, Ana detected a trio of strong Auras coming from the west. All three of them were moving in tight formation and coming closer, fast.

            **Another quick mini-perspective flip to Ana.**


	10. Justice Strikes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second chapter using Cordelia’s point of view.

**The second and final chapter from Cordelia’s perspective in this story, if memory serves.**

            Cordelia was bringing up the rear of her chained and inhibited team as they were being marched north, slowly approaching the large fortress that rested on the icy plains. Escorting the captives were a pair of Zwelious and a pair of Gabite, not including the one the team had briefly held captive. The enemy leader, Garchomp was also with them.

            As Cordelia looked forward only to see Paul’s behind and the back of Ana’s head she thought, “Well, this is how it will end. I will not die fighting, or of old age. I will be killed for unclear reasons by enemies I know little about, at least Ana will know the truth before our shared end.”

            **That sounds pretty depressing.**

            As the group of prisoners continued on the way north they saw that the squads of enemies who had been sent ahead to reach the fortress were getting farther and farther away from the group escorting the prisoners.

            The four captives were not making any effort to walk slowly or struggle against their bonds. They had been thoroughly demoralized by their capture. Cordelia had decided that once they were brought back to the fortress, she would have to make her displeasure with Zane known for taking the team on the expedition and, more importantly, for not simply retreating when they first reached the ice fields. Then, she thought that he probably felt terrible already for getting himself and his allies captured.

            Cordelia also felt terrible for Ana, both because she had a family back home and because she would be letting her close friend Alfred down by not coming back alive. Also, Cordelia just hated the thought of Ana dying, she knew that she would give her life for the one she loved, regardless of whether Ana returned her affections or not.

            **These enemies would not have even given Cordelia a chance to offer up her own life in return for Ana’s safety.**

            The captives and their escorts were walking past a large hill, which was covered in snow and sheets of ice. The sound of loud footsteps was heard by all, as a trio of unique looking four-legged Pokémon emerged and stood at the top of the hill.

            Garchomp looked at the new arrivals and, looking quite frustrated, said, “Cobalion, we meet again!”

            **And now we have the first Legendary Pokémon sighting in this story. As another note, I might have been planning to bring back Kyla and Chad at this point early in this story’s planning phase. Obviously, that did not happen. They won’t show up for quite some time.**

            The Pokémon referred to as Cobalion responded, “Hello Garchomp, and it’s Sir Cobalion to you. Now whoever those four Pokémon are, I would advise you to release them at once!”  

            **That should have been a solid establishing moment for Cobalion. It also introduced the idea of Legendary Pokémon being referred to with noble titles in this series of stories.**

            Garchomp shouted back, as his captives looked over hopefully at the new arrivals, “I will not, you arrogant prick! These four are going to the palace for interrogation. I will not allow you to be a thorn in my liege’s side, anymore!”

            **Cobalion can actually be a bit of an arrogant prick. However, he is in the right in this scenario.**

            Cobalion responded, calmly, “Virizion, Terrakion, deal with the escorts. I’m on the leader! He will not escape this time!”

            **Was that a Darth Vader reference?**

            Cobalion’s pair of Companions, including one greenish female and a hulking brownish male, charged one of the Zwelious and each of them generated a Sword of energy which slashed into the target. The combination of attacks fainted him instantly.

            As the captives watched the Zwelious faint, Cobalion charged at Garchomp and screamed, “Taste my Sacred Sword, evildoer!” Cobalion’s Sacred Sword move cut into Garchomp, who recoiled back in pain, but remained on his feet.

            **Cobalion used… SMITE EVIL!**

            Garchomp then gripped his Mega Stone and rapidly Mega Evolved. He then burrowed into the ground, using Dig.

            As for Garchomp’s minions, the remaining Zwelious rushed around the captive team and detonated a Dragon Pulse on Terrakion and Virizion. The pair of Gabite each picked a foe and rushed them, with claws extended, each Pokémon took a Dragon Claw, but remained in good shape.

            Cobalion rushed past where Garchomp had dug underground and brought down his Sacred Sword onto one of the Gabite’s heads, fainting him instantly.

            **One-slash K.O.**

            The final Zwelious looked nervous as both his heads looked up at Terrakion and Virizion who used their same combination Scared Sword strike to faint him quickly.

            **Keldeo does not appear in this story. I kept the Swords of justice as a trio for this series.**

            Cordelia thought, as the team watched their would-be rescuers down foe after foe, “Ok, maybe we are not going to die. Whoever these three Pokémon are, they might be able to defeat Garchomp!”

            Mega Garchomp burst out of the ground to find that Cobalion had not stuck around. He then angrily shouted, “I know when a battle is lost, I am retreating! You win again, Cobalion!”

            Garchomp’s Gabite ally realized he had to delay the attacking trio and struck Cobalion with a Dragon Claw. However, he barely noticed the attack.      

            Cordelia then noticed that Mega Garchomp had the keys to the team’s cuffs and collars around his neck and shouted, “He has the keys to our restraints. Don’t let him get away!”

            **That was some solid quick thinking from Cordelia.**

            Cobalion nodded as he began to chase Mega Garchomp down. The Gabite had the life drained out of him by Virizion’s use of Giga Drain, which generated a series of green pulses of energy flowing out of him and into her.

            Then, Terrakion used a first of energy to strike the weakened Gabite in the face, the aggressive attack left Terrakion weakened and the foe fainted. Ana was clearly impressed with Terrakion’s use of the Close Combat move as she watched the fight unfold.

            Cobalion chased down the fleeing Mega Garchomp and slashed into him with Sacred Sword once again. Mega Garchomp shouted, “If I do not deal with you, my king will!” He then cut into Cobalion using his own Dragon Claw.

            At that point, Terrakion rushed into Mega Garchomp and nailed him with a second Close Combat. Cobalion then cut Mega Garchomp with a Metal Claw and Virizion charged in and delivered a devastating slash with her Sacred Sword. Mega Garchomp finally fainted.

            **Another one bites the dust…**

            Zane led the chained team over to their rescuers as they all watched Garchomp’s Mega Evolution wear off. Then, the newly arrived trio gasped as they saw the black light consume Garchomp’s body and a rainbow ball of light arise and then disappear.

            **Or worse?**

            As Virizion used her mouth to retrieve the keys, Cobalion asked, “What was that?”

            **Even they have not seen such a display before.**

            After Virizion was able to carefully unlock Zane and then gave him the keys, allowing him to begin freeing Ana, Zane said, “That is one of the major reasons why we came up here. We were following a lead regarding that Garchomp. It appears that that effect did not consume all of his followers.”

            As Ana was freed and took the keys as to begin freeing a relieved Paul and Cordelia, Virizion asked, “Cobalion, should we explain ourselves to them?”

            As Terrakion kept watch, Cobalion said to the team, which had by then been completely unchained, “Since you do not seem to know of us by our reputation... We are a group of Pokémon known, as the ‘Swords of Justice’ we fight for what is right across the entire world. We have done so for hundreds of years, in fact. We have spent the last few months up here on the frontier waging a campaign against the late Garchomp’s master, Kyurem, the ruler of this glacial kingdom. Kyurem is a dangerous and mad despot who rules with an iron fist and Garchomp was his captain of the guard. Pokémon who opposed Kyurem were often taken to his palace and never seen or heard from again. However, I still do not know why Garchomp’s body was consumed upon his defeat.”

            Cordelia then spoke up to say, “First of all, thank you for saving our lives. Also, do you know who the High Priest is?”

            Virizion replied, “Saving lives is part of what we were born to do, so do not worry about it. But no, we have never heard of a High Priest working for Kyurem.”

            **It seems as though another mystery has reared its head.**

            Terrakion finally spoke up, adding, “If there is a High Priest, he cannot be devoted to Arceus. Kyurem has no love for our god and creator.”

            Ana then reached out her Aura Sense and detected no other enemies within range. The other squads were most likely still on the way to the palace, blissfully unaware of what had happened behind them. She then asked, “How did you know where to find us?”

            Cobalion responded, “We saw all of the troops that Garchomp had mobilized and we waited for the right moment to attack them. We would not have let you all get too close to the palace where they could have easily called for more backup.”

            Cordelia then asked, “What do we do now?”

            The three Swords of Justice looked to Cordelia and Virizion asked, “Sacrificed?”

            Paul then explained, “Both Garchomp and his ally Banette, who vanished in the same way before mentioned trying to sacrifice their defeated foes. Now, can we return to town, Zane? You nearly got us murdered by servants of a mad Pokémon!”

            Zane sighed, “Yes, Paul we are retreating now. I am sincerely and deeply sorry that my desire for intelligence on the enemy nearly got us killed. At least we know who is behind this all now, it has to be Kyurem.”

            Then Cobalion interjected, “It may be someone worse. I fear that an even more ancient and evil Pokémon could have corrupted Kyurem. One unknown to all but the most ancient of Pokémon… Giratina very well could be who they are sacrificing innocents and even themselves to.”

            **This story continued to move who the main villain was seen as up the “chain of command” First Banette, then Garchomp, then Kyurem, etc.**

            Virizion and Terrakion gasped as Ana asked, “Who is Giratina, also if he is unknown to all but the most ancient…are you three Legendary Pokémon?”

            The trio calmly, and in unison, responded, “Yes.”

            Cordelia admitted, “I guess it is kind of an honor to be rescued by Legendary Pokémon. Thank you for what you have done for us. Still, I think we should fall back before the remaining foes wake up.”

            Cobalion then looked the Pokémon his group has saved over more carefully and said, “Well, we should at least escort you all to the canyon so you can return to your town safely. You know, I have heard about badges like yours. Are they by chance Pokémon Adventurers Guild badges?”

            Zane stepped forward and said, “Yes sir, they are in fact. What do you know about the Guild, anyway?”

            As the group of seven began walking south away from the palace, Cobalion responded, “Well, we have heard that Guild members have fought outlaws, rescued civilians and battled dangerous wild Pokémon. We even heard that they have led the fight against at least one evil society of Pokémon led by a genetic abomination.”

            **The Swords of Justice were clearly not present for the war with the Imperium.**

            Ana added, “That is actually all true, my parents were both Guild members who did fight against and ended up defeating a society calling itself the Imperium. One of my best friends, who should be back in Semberta Town, Alfred, is Guild Master Shade’s son.”

            Cobalion seemed intrigued and then asked the team, “You know, despite our strength, we are vastly outnumbered in our fight against Kyurem. We could use more help from the Pokémon of Semberta Town. I have heard that it is one of the largest settlements on the frontier’s coastline. Also, we should make sure that you get your intelligence back to the town safely.”

            Virizion nodded her agreement and so did Terrakion. Cordelia than spoke up to say, “Of course we would be fine with you all accompanying us back to Semberta Town. You are also more than welcome to come into to town with us.”

            **They did save the whole team, after all.**

            Paul said, “I am not sure where you all would stay. But, since you saved us I am sure you will be welcomed in town.”

            **They are also minor divine entities in this world, there is that fact.**

            Zane then declared, “It is settled then! We will all return to Semberta Town, together.”

            Virizion then added, “When we arrive, we can at some point meet with this Alfred, in order to learn more about the P.A.G. You all should lead the way once we emerge from the other side of the canyon.”

            Cordelia was just relieved that she, Ana, and their teammates were all still alive as the group made camp close to the canyon’s north entrance. They all spent the next six days returning to Semberta Town. Wild Pokémon avoided the larger group on their trek south. The whole way back, Paul was very annoyed with Zane. Paul indicated how the team had never needed saving before, and how if the Swords of Justice had not arrived they would be either captive or dead. Paul was still grateful to the team’s rescuers, but he was mostly annoyed with Zane for having gotten them into such a dangerous position in the first place.

            Zane did seem to feel some serious guilt about what had happened. He just took Paul’s rants without trying to defend himself. Ana and Cordelia were just relieved that things had worked out the way they did and they did not take a side. The Swords of Justice stayed out of it as well, clearly seeing Paul’s issues with Zane as being beneath them.

            **Legendaries would see a minor squabble as beneath them, of course.**

            When the group of seven Pokémon finally reached Semberta Town, it was late in the evening. The Swords of Justice decided to rest just inside the wall while the four team members found their way to the inn.

            When the team arrived at the inn, Sherry pointed out to them that they had been gone for two weeks and also informed them that Diego’s team had just returned from a mission and were all resting. Ana and Cordelia decided to get a good night’s sleep and then go to meet with Alfred the next day Zane then went up to his room. Paul returned to his house to tell his family that he had survived the long expedition.

            That night, Cordelia was falling asleep, as she dosed off she thought, “I am just glad that the intelligence-gathering mission was ultimately a success. Tomorrow Zane is going to report to Sheriff Takara along with the three Legendaries. Paul is still not leaving the team, even though he was tempted to leave. I just wonder how I can court Ana? At least she knows the truth now.”

            Cordelia fell asleep, just glad to be back in her inn room bed.

            **The next chapter brings Diego back as the viewpoint character. I just believed that that two-chapters worth of content was two important to gloss over in exposition.**


	11. Teams Reunited

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter returns the viewpoint character mantle to Diego.

            Diego, Aurora and Ned were having breakfast in the tavern on the first floor of the Semberta Town inn. The trio had returned to Semberta Town after another successful mission in the area.

            Aurora looked to Diego and Ned and told the duo, “This morning I was down here first, as usual, and Sherry told me that the other team returned last night. They seemed exhausted. Also, Sherry mentioned reports of three large, four-legged Pokémon having entered town last night. Apparently, they have been seen last near the town’s wall. They were almost acting like they were on a patrol.”

            Diego responded, “Ok, at least Zane and his team have returned safely, and with a week to spare until we were told to consider them lost.”

            Ned then spoke up to say, “We should to alert Alfred to this news, in case he has not heard. He is very close to Ana, so he should be really relieved to hear that she is back in one piece.”

            Diego and Aurora agreed and the trio finished their food and headed out to the Guild office. When they arrived at the office, they found Riko sitting at the desk. When he saw Alfred’s teammates arriving, he shouted into the backroom, “Mr. Alfred, your teammates have shown up!”

            Alfred ran out of the backroom and responded, “Riko, stop calling me Mr.!”

            **That recurring joke rears its head again.**

            Alfred then turned to his allies and asked, “What are you all doing here? I assumed that you would want a day to rest after our last job?”

            Aurora replied, “We heard from Sherry that Zane’s team returned last night and that the three new Pokémon have also shown up in town.”

            Alfred looked immensely relieved as he said, “That is wonderful news, Aurora. We need to go look for them to see what news they have.”

            Then a familiar voice called out, “You do not have to look far!”

            **Another example of when I had voice from “off-screen” appear. This time, it’s with a character I had already introduced.**

            The voice turned out to be Ana’s as she and Cordelia entered the office. Ana was easily the tallest one in the office since her evolution and she leaned down to embrace Alfred briefly. As Ana stood back up, Alfred exclaimed, “Ana, you’ve evolved! You look just like your mother now! More importantly, how was the mission? What did you learn, if anything?”

            Ana began, “Well we learned that the Pokémon who seems ultimately behind Banette and Garchomp is known as Kyurem, who is also a Legendary Pokémon. To be honest, we only made it to these icy fields beyond the canyon before we were all surrounded and captured by the Garchomp and his soldiers.”

            Diego asked, “If you were captured, then how did you escape?”      

            Cordelia then took over and said, “We were chained in a line by Garchomp’s minions, but then he ordered most of them to return to this palace in the distance, so that we would not slow them down. They said we would be interrogated and then sacrificed once we had told them what we knew. Then, there was a hill nearby and this trio of Pokémon appeared on it. They easily defeated Garchomp’s troops then brought him down. When he fainted, he suffered the same fate as Banette.”

            Alfred then asked, “Are these the same three Pokémon who just appeared in town? Who were they? Also, where are Paul and Zane?”

            Ana then picked up from Cordelia and told Alfred and his team, “They were three Legendary Pokémon who were actively fighting Kyurem and his servants. They claimed Kyurem and someone called the High Priest might be sacrificing Pokémon to a demigod called Giratina. As for our rescuers themselves, they called themselves the Swords of Justice…”

            Diego’s eyes widened as Ana said those final three words. At the same time, Ned screamed “THE SWORDS OF JUSTICE!” And then began to bounce up and down rapidly.

            Ned then grabbed onto Diego and shouted into his face, “Diego, the Swords of Justice are here! Sir’s Cobalion and Terrakion and the Lady Virizion could be in this very settlement as we speak!”

            **I got the idea of Ned being a massive Sword of Justice fanboy from the TV Trope called “The Knights Who Says Squee.” I thought it would add something to his character. It turns out that it did, at least to one friend of mine who read this story after having “Beta Read” the last one.**

            Ana awkwardly said, “Those were their names… anyway Paul should be back home. He was really angry with Zane for getting us captured and almost killed. Zane said he was off to talk to Sheriff Takara with our rescuers. Cobalion said he wanted to discuss the Kyurem situation with her.”

            Ned then exclaimed, “We need to go to the Sheriff’s office…NOW! Diego, we have a chance to meet THE Swords of Justice! …You need to be more excited!”

            **It is kind of hilarious that Ned is chiding Diego for not being more excited.**

            Diego then responded, mainly to Ned, “I know we have both heard legends about the Swords of Justice since we were just hatched, but I must admit that I am not a fan of more Pokémon being here to distract me from my mission with their own fame.”

            Aurora sighed and told Diego, “You still need to think about the good of the community, if this Kyurem is really planning to attack this town then we could really use this trio’s help.”

            **She makes a pretty good point. Legendary Pokémon are normally good allies to have.**

            Diego then dejectedly admitted, “Ok, you are right about that. Let’s get to the Sheriff’s office.”

            As the six Pokémon filed out of the building, Alfred shouted back to Riko, “Run the office while we are gone. And work on stopping calling me Mr. while you are here.”

            Riko cheekily replied, “Yes sir, MR. Alfred.”          

            Alfred shook his claw angrily at Riko as he closed the office’s door behind him.

            **That never got old to me. I think Riko kept doing that just to troll his boss after a certain point in the story.**

            When the six Pokémon arrived at the Sheriff’s office they saw that Zane and Paul were already talking with Takara. Also in the room were Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion.

            Ned looked at the Swords of Justice and could only say the following thing… “Squee!”

            **I told you about the inspiring trop earlier. The proof is right there…**

            Ana chuckled, “Ned, you are such a fan boy.”

            **That he certainly is.**

            Ned ignored her comment and kept squeeing at the, slightly surprised, trio before him.

            Takara then asked Cobalion, “It looks like Ned here is a fan of your work. Do you get folks like that a lot?”

            Terrakion simply responded, “Somewhat frequently.”

            Virizion added, “Especially when we do visit civilized areas for an extended period of time.”

            **They do have other fans. However, not all civilized Pokémon know of their exploits, even after centuries of their adventures.**

            Alfred then asked, “Out of curiosity, if you are legendary Pokémon, and therefore immortal, do you remember encountering humans?”

            Cobalion responded, “Oh yes we do, we have fought both alongside and against humans for centuries when they became the dominant species in the world. However, the last time we got involved in a human war, our side started the exchange that led to the end of humanity. Your Guild has been the main ones responsible for telling the public the truth about that conflict.”

            Virizion then chimed in, “That war was a catastrophe of unparalleled proportions. However, after it ended we never did stop fighting for what we believed was/is right, even in a world with only us Pokémon left.”

            **That was a callback to the Planetary Civil War mentioned in Wake of Humanity and detailed further in Ruination. The Swords of justice aided the rebels in that war, also wanting to free Pokémon from their trainers.**

            Terrakion then pointed out, “Speaking of fighting, we need to talk about the problem at hand. Can you get your Wartortle to stop Squeeing?”

            Ned quickly responded, “If you want me to stop squeeing, then I will, Sir Terrakion.” Ned stopped squeeing immediately after that.

            **Ned immediately wants to prove himself to his heroes.**

            Takara then said, “Lets’ get down to the matter of this Kyurem, then.”

            As Ned did his best to contain his excitement at being in the presence of his childhood heroes, Cobalion began, “I strongly suspect that the survivors of our attack, which led to the rescue of one of your Guild teams, have informed Kyurem of what happened. We also now know, thanks to what the other Guild team has told you, that Kyurem seems to want to attack Semberta Town and sacrifice its residents to Giratina.”

            Diego then interjected, “Sir Cobalion…Thank you for acknowledging my team’s work. I was just curious, though, who is this Pokémon named Giratina?”

            Cobalion quickly responded, “Giratina is one of the most ancient of all Legendary Pokémon. He was created along with the Dialga, the demigod of time and Palkia, the demigoddess of space. Giratina possessed a heart most wicked, despite being created by Arceus, and wanted to take control of our universe for himself. The legends say that he rebelled against Arceus, but was beaten in combat by the combined powers of Dialga, Palkia and Arceus. Giratina was banished to a sub-dimension known only to few, the outer world. Some say that in a part of that dimension, the souls of the dead reside.”

            Aurora then asked, “So why is Giratina still dangerous if he was beaten millions of years ago?”

            Cobalion answered, “Because, Giratina represents evil, in its incarnate form. He, in a way, had to exist. However, he rebelled against Arceus because his nature requires him to hate all who do not fall under his rule. I believe that if Kyurem and his high priest have found a way to sacrifice Pokémon to Giratina, then if they sacrifice this entire town it will not only be mass murder, it will possibly lead to Giratina becoming much more powerful!”

            Virizion then added, “You see why we cannot allow that to happen. If, Giratina, who we call the Father of Evil becomes stronger, than he could prove a threat to the world again.”

            Ned then exclaimed, “We have to stop Kyurem from carrying out Giratina’s cruel will!”

            **Ned would probably believe that the sky was actually red if Cobalion told him that it was… The sky is still blue in the setting, by the way.**

            Diego, knowing Ned well, was very sure that Ned had said what he said to try and impress the Swords of Justice more than anything. He then spoke up to say, “So, Sir Cobalion, what do we do? If we cannot reach Giratina to stop him face to face, then we need a way to defeat Kyurem, who seems to be acting as his disciple?”

            Alfred then mentioned, “I have actually heard of a Pokémon known as Kyurem before, it is said that he is the remains of an ancient Pokémon who split into two halves, which became known as Zekrom and Reshiram over an internal ideological conflict. As the ‘left over’ Kyurem would be a very likely candidate to be dissatisfied enough with the world to be alright with supporting Giratina’s attempt to remake it in his image!”

            Cobalion then declared, “That does seem to ‘add up,’ regardless of Kyurem’s origins, I am confident that we can stop this before it becomes a global problem by slaying Kyurem and his ‘High Priest!’ That will send a clear message to Giratina that we are on to his murderous plot!”

            **Cobalion has probably been looking for evidence of Giratina’s evil influence on the world for centuries.**  

            As Ned and the others cheered, Terrakion said, “The way I see it, Kyurem knows that the Pokémon of Semberta Town are onto him by now. Sherriff Takara, you need to start having scout Pokémon patrol the wastelands for any signs of Kyurem’s forces advancing this way. He will probably want to eliminate this town, the biggest one on the coastline, as soon as he can. That will leave Cocen Town and the others weak and ready for the taking. If he takes this coastline, then he will get access to other parts of the world, and, therefore, more sacrifices for Giratina.”

            Diego felt guilty that he was becoming excited. Even though he was thinking of all the glory that could come from stopping a plot to empower an ancient evil, he knew that his team had to help defend Semberta Town against what looked like the inevitable assault from the glacial kingdom. Also, he was still afraid of what would happen if they failed. What if his and Ned’s home village of Kez was eventually destroyed and his parents murdered to empower the Father of Evil.

            **Diego has mixed motivations. Some of them are selfish, some are them are actually heroic. I hope that the story makes that clear.**

            Diego then asked, “Assuming that Kyurem will attack this settlement soon, what do we do to defend this place?”

            Cobalion said, “Well, for one thing, I do not think that Kyurem will come along himself to lead from the front. Hopefully, the death of his guard captain, Garchomp, will slow his plans down. Kyurem is notorious for just remaining in his palace. I think we need to inform the other towns on the coastline, so that they can prepare for any attacks that might be made on them. My two comrades and I will help defend this town to the end, of course. Your walls should make it hard for land-bound enemies to get in. Airborne foes will be a problem, though.”

            Then Terrakion added, “We should get to work immediately on building a first line of defense, past the farms. If Kyurem’s Pokémon get past that then we can fall back to the real wall. Hopefully, your wall’s catapults can fire past the farms so that they can rain down projectiles on the invaders before they even cross the first line.”

            Takara then said, “I will speak with the mayor, Elias, immediately about building some trenches and a small wall past the farms. Also, we will discuss conscripting every Pokémon who can fight to help us survive the upcoming attack.”

            After Takara left, Aurora asked, “Do we know how many Pokémon Kyurem can muster to attack us?”

            Virizion replied, “We are honestly not sure how many have fallen under his sway. For all we know Semberta’s Pokémon might even outnumber the number he can actually mobilize. Or, on the other hand, they could outnumber us.”

            Paul then spoke up to say, “Well, now that Kyurem has threatened my home. I feel as though I have no choice but to stay on my team and help the defense operations in any way that I can.”

            **Paul’s main motivation is consistently patriotism for Semberta Town. I am at least glad that I made his motivation consistent in retrospect.**

            All of the Guild members present agreed with Paul. Zane then said, “We will start helping round up capable fighters from the local populace and working on building up defenses immediately!”

            Aurora said, “I will go talk to the head of the dock patrol, my old boss, to alert him that the patrol will need to be mobilized for combat.”   

            As the Guild Pokémon began to disperse, Virizion walked up to Ana and Cordelia and asked Ana, “You know, one day I would love to meet your parents. They sound like they were quite the heroes in their time.”

            Ana replied, “Well, they did have help from my ‘aunt’ Delilah and my ‘uncle’ Stephan as well. My mother did slay Mewtwo personally, though.”

            **That she did… It was honestly quite brutal.**

            Virizion smiled and added, “Well, I just hope that you find a nice mate one day so that you can continue your family line. It seems like for now, though, you are doing your best to follow in your parents’ footsteps.”

            Ana looked awkwardly back at Virizion and Cordelia looked nervously up at both of them. Then Ana replied, “Honestly, it’s up to my brother for now to continue the family legacy by having a child. I am not interested in males myself.” 

            Virizion stepped back a bit, with a look of shock on her face, she stammered, “Ok, well…just please do not tell Cobalion. He detests that kind of thing. And since he is my leader and my mate I do not want him causing any divisions here while we are doing our best to protect this settlement…goodbye.”

            **It seems that homophobia has reared its head in ROC again.**

            Virizion left in a great hurry as Ana and Cordelia both felt awkward. Ana, once Virizion was out of earshot, said, “Well… now I do feel guilty that we had to be rescued by Cobalion!”

            Cordelia replied, “I am used to this kind of thing, honestly. We should go find Zane and Paul now, Ana. We have a lot of work to do and an uncertain amount of time to do it in.”

            Ana and Cordelia then left the sheriff’s office.

            Diego and his team spent the next three days working on building the new outer defenses and recruiting local Pokémon. After that, they were all to be summoned to the town square.

            **That was a somewhat-abrupt chapter ending. I have certainly had more abrupt endings to chapters, though.**


	12. Preparing for the Battle

            Four days after the meeting with the Swords of Justice and Sheriff Takara, both of Semberta Town’s P.A.G. teams were standing in the Guild Office. Alfred had sent Riko out to get more supplies for the office. He had not yet returned. Alfred himself was sitting behind the desk that Riko had usually occupied lately. Alfred’s teammates were sitting at a nearby table. Zane and his team were standing closer to the door.

            Alfred told the assembled Pokémon; “This morning, the Sheriff told me that our scouts have seen a large force of Pokémon, with a Metagross at their head, advancing on the town. They apparently will be here in around three days. Cobalion has called for a meeting in the town square to discuss his defensive plan. We need to be in the town square at noon.”

            Ana then replied, “I just hope that we can stop this invasion and then, once Kyurem is no longer a problem, the ‘Swords of Justice’ will leave this town. Then, we can get things back to normal.”

            **She tends to be outspoken when she is upset, just like her mother.**

            Ned looked shocked and confused; he recoiled back and said, “Why would you want them gone? I know that they will need to go other places to help others in need, but why would you want these legendary heroes out of town?”

            Cordelia looked, somewhat nervously over to Ana who said, “Ned, if you must know… We heard from Virizion that Cobalion has great distaste for homosexuality. I dislike being in the company of those that think that way. And, I also feel that someone who has those sorts of ideas is no hero. Even if I have personally witnessed what I would usually classify as heroism from them.”

            Diego looked nervously over at Ned who was suddenly filled with anger. Ned shouted back, “Well, Ana, maybe if Sir Cobalion believes that that is wrong, then it is wrong! I am far more inclined to trust my hero’s beliefs then I am to trust yours!”

            **A danger of hero-worship appears here. This is why I try not to unconditionally admire anyone in the real world.**

            Ana started to shake violently as Aurora and Diego backed away from Ned, Ana’s Metal Claws began to emerge. Ned still did not step down one bit. In fact, he even stepped closer to Ana. Diego claw-palmed and then said, “Ned, I think you just insulted a major portion of who Ana is. Maybe you should apologize and agree to disagree with her.”

            Aurora added, “Ana is not a bad Pokémon and Cobalion does seem old fashioned, regardless of how much good he and his allies have done.”

            Zane and Cordelia both looked ready to back Ana up, while Paul also backed away. Finally, Alfred shouted, “Ned, Ana, please stand down! Guild members are not allowed to attack each other! As you might remember, from an incident that involved Ana’s mother and another Guild member, attacking another Guild Pokémon willingly is grounds for expulsion!” 

            **I am loving the Wake of Humanity callbacks I put in this story. They tie the two narratives together and justify this work being a sequel, despite having new protagonists.**  

            Ana retracted her claws and sighed, saying, “Ned, this is not worth fighting over. However, I refuse to consider any bigot a hero…even if he saved me and my team.”

            **Another example of Ana’s strong-willed personality. I wonder if Kyla even encouraged it in her daughter?**

            Ned backed down as well and said, “Fine, we will not fight over this, personally. However, I intend to tell Cobalion what you think. I think that he should know that his hero status is being questioned.”

            **More of Ned being a crazed fanboy. At least this arc gave him a stronger narrative role than just being the protagonist’s childhood friend and partner.**

            Cordelia stepped up and told Ned, “I don’t think you should exacerbate this by telling him what Ana said. We need to put up a united front against Kyurem’s forces.”

            Diego put a claw on Ned’s shoulder and added, “I think she is right, buddy, we should not start an internal conflict when we need to stand together. If this town falls then we could all die, or at least have to flee and deal with an emboldened enemy later.”

            Ned thought it over and then responded, “Ugh, ok…. I will not tell him until after the battle. Assuming we do win, that is. Of course, I believe that, with the Swords of Justice on our side, we will win the battle!”

            **Ned has no concept of the Swords of Justice being fallible.**

            Even though Ana knew that Ned had a point about the Swords of Justice’s power, she rolled her eyes at his ending comment. Alfred looked relieved that a fight in the office had been averted and said, “Ok, now we should prepare to go to the noon meeting, all of us.”

            As the team Pokémon were “cooling down” from the confrontation, Riko walked into the office with some supplies and asked, “What did I miss?”

            **I like how this story had more comedy by comparison to Wake of Humanity. Even if it can be quite serious and heavy at times.**

            Close to noon, Diego’s team was walking over to the town square from the guild office. Aurora said, “I hate to bring this up again, but Ned, why were you so willing to verbally attack Ana?”

            **She may have just put her tail in it…**

            Ned responded, “Because she questioned my hero’s integrity. She thought that because of one of his beliefs, which I maintain could be true, his past heroic actions were void in her mind. Also, his group saved her entire team, she should be more grateful!”

            **I thought that I needed to at least expand on Ned’s point of view regarding his conflict with Ana in that paragraph.**

            Alfred then chimed in, “Ned, you need to realize that Ana was raised in a household where she was accepted and told that there was nothing wrong with her. Her mother’s best friend, who was also a Guild member, is gay and his mother disowned him. Kyla and Chadwick, Ana’s parents, did not want her to ever feel the same type of rejection that their friend had experienced. Because of the way she was raised, she fiercely rejects any challenges to her orientation. That is why she got so mad at you, she knows her ‘uncle’s’ story and knows what Cobalion’s type of thinking leads to.”

            **That was probably one of the best points brought up in the whole Ana Vs. Ned/Cobalion arc.**

             Diego decided to bring something up and smiled, he asked, “Ned, think of it this way, what if someone was immensely critical and judgmental about your thing for Totodile?”

            Ned stopped and blushed awkwardly as Aurora asked, “What ‘thing’ for Totodile?”

            Alfred also looked over to Ned, as the team kept walking. Ned awkwardly responded to Aurora, “…I find female Totodile to be particularly attractive. This was something I have only told my family and Diego so far. Now, all of you know. That was cold, Diego, but you made your point.”

            **I honestly laughed out loud when I came to that segment. See my earlier point about this story being more funny than its predecessor.**

            Diego did feel a severe pang of guilt about having to expose his old friend’s secret. However, he knew it was the best way to get him to stop criticizing Ana’s orientation, at least in the short term.

            The team soon reached the town square where Mayor Elias and Sheriff Takara were standing on a wooden platform behind Virizion and Terrakion. At the front of the platform, was Cobalion. There were well in excess of one hundred Pokémon already there. Diego and his team found a spot next to Ana’s team in the southern part of the square.

            Then, soon after the team had arrived, Cobalion began, “Welcome everyone. I would like to begin by thanking all of you for attending this meeting. We have received confirmation that a large force of hostile Pokémon, belonging to the glacial kingdom of Kyurem, is only around three days from the outskirts of this settlement. You should not worry though, as we have devised a plan to repel this invading force. The plan will require the help of as many of you as we can get! To start, we will continue to dig a line of trenches and erect a series of wooden barriers just past the farming district outside of the main wall. Your sheriff will lead a defensive force at the trenches, which will stall the enemy at that line for as long as they can. Then, if the enemy continues to push forward hard enough, the defensive force will fall back through the farms to the main wall. Once the enemy is past the trenches, I will personally lead a counter-charge while the town’s catapults rain down projectiles on the intruders. We hope to stop at least the large bulk of their force before it even reaches the main wall.”

            The town’s Pokémon seemed amenable to the plan as Cobalion took a long breath. He then continued, “There is one complication, we have reason to believe that a small unit of aquatic Pokémon under Kyurem’s control are going to try and break through at the docks in order to establish a flank against our forces. We will be assigning a group of Pokémon to guard the docks, along with the local dock patrol. That group will be responsible for making sure that the enemies only make limited, in any, landfall there. As a closing note, we must all keep in mind that the very survival of this town, as well as all civilization on the frontier is determined on our success here. Kyurem seems determined to sacrifice the Pokémon of this coastline to Giratina! Giratina, so all of you are aware, is the ancient Pokémon known as the Father of Evil! We must ensure that his scheme to have his worshipers commit mass murder to empower him fails here!”

            **Cobalion believes that the more Pokémon know about Giratina, the less likely his evil plans are to succeed.**

            As the local Pokémon, and Ned cheered for Cobalion, Ana folded her arms. She was not going to clap or cheer for Cobalion, no matter how sound his strategy was.

            Over the next three days, the two Guild teams helped to construct the new outer layer of defenses for Semberta Town. There was talk of an eventual counter-attack expedition to Kyurem’s palace in order to end the threat he posed. Of course, that was only to take place if the upcoming battle was won decisively. It had been decided that Zane’s team was to lead to smaller unit defending the docks. They had been chosen over Diego’s team both because of their superior expertise and because they did not have a Fire Type Pokémon in their team. Diego and his team were to be positioned on the left flank of the trenches to help in the initial defense.

             Ned and Ana mostly avoided each other as the preparations for the battle were made. Diego hoped that they would find a way to make up at some point. Ned had told Diego, privately, that he was still going to tell Cobalion that Ana did not think highly of him after the battle. Diego had always known that his friend loved the stories of the Swords of Justice and their various heroic exploits, but he had not become aware of the true level of Ned’s hero worship until the group had actually appeared in their lives. Ned truly seemed to believe that the three Legendaries, especially Cobalion, were beyond any sort of reproach.

            **If that was not obvious before, I made it pretty damn obvious there.**

            It was not long until the day came when the battle was to take place. The scouts reported that the enemy force was likely to reach the, newly built, outer defenses of Semberta Town in the midafternoon. Zane and his team rushed to the docks to lead the defenders there. Sherriff Takara led a large force to the outer defenses, including Diego and his team. The Swords of Justice took the remaining Pokémon who were willing to fight, and got ready for their counter-charge at the main wall.

            Diego and his team were looking over the trench that they were stationed in. Alfred was standing behind the others, seeing as though he was the group’s unofficial sniper. Aurora looked out from the trench into the wasteland and said, “The enemy is fanning out and approaching. I do not see any airborne foes yet.”

            Diego then added, “Well, our orders are to wait here in this defensible position and let them come to us.”

            Ned, who was also looking out at the amassed foes said, “I just hope that no enemies who are too powerful come our way. We just need to be ready to run if the order comes so that we can lead the invasion force right into Sir Cobalion’s trap!”

            **I forgot to have Ned add the “Sir” there in the initial release. I added it here, since Ned would want to call his hero by his full title as often as possible.**

            Alfred added, “I think we will do alright here. The enemy is attacking us more out of desperation, now that we know more of the truth about Kyurem and, presumably, Giratina. They will be trying to win this and overrun the town to stop the spread of our knowledge. We do have the defensive advantage here and that should help us to carry the day here.”

            Diego went to look out from the trench and he saw that the enemy horde was beginning to advance on the trenches. He shouted, “Here they come!”

            The team heard Takara shout, “They enemy is charging the trenches. Hold them off here for as long as you can!”

            Diego and his teammates braced themselves to hold their section of trench as the army of the Glacial Kingdom came rushing forward like an avalanche.

            **That was an obvious reference to make there. It also ties in to a line in the opening cut scene of one of my favorite video games other than PMD, Valkyria Chronicles. Funny enough, Cordelia’s name comes from a character who appears in that series.**


	13. The Battle of Semberta Town

            Diego and his teammates were witnessing the incoming charge of the army of the Glacial Kingdom. With Alfred still standing at the rear of the group, they braced themselves for the attack. The team then began to fight off the first wave of attacking Pokémon as they started to breach the trenches. For what was most likely a few minutes, but could have been an hour for all Diego knew, they held off the opening wave of attackers. From what the team could tell, there allies nearby were not doing as well. Despite having greater numbers of defenders per section, the other defenders were mostly enlisted civilians. They were not experienced adventurers like Diego’s team.

            **Especially in a RPG-inspired universe, individual experience can certainly matter far more than raw numbers.**

            Ultimately, the first wave of enemies was stopped from breaching past the trenches and Diego’s team was able to rest and inspect the losses on their side. Aurora said, “It looks like we have held for now, but we may need to begin the retreat after the second wave hits.”

            As Alfred was about to respond, they all saw another wave of Pokémon approaching the trenches. This wave had less Pokémon in it, but the individuals making up the wave were tougher looking. Diego pointed out, “There isn’t a group coming for us. Don’t they want to take this flanking position?”

            As Diego finished his statement, the earth began to shake. On one side of the team, the one away from their allies, a trio of Diglett burst out of the ground. One the other side, a Dugtrio and a fourth Diglett emerged from the earth.

            **Yes, they want to seize the flanking position.**

            Aurora reacted immediately and used a Twister on the three Diglett, injuring all of them. Then, Ned blasted the enemies on the other side with a Water Pulse, which had a devastating effect on them.

            Diego, knowing his disadvantage in the current situation, launched an Ember at the weakened Diglett near the Dugtrio, fainting him.

            Alfred disposed of another Diglett using his Icy Wind, while backing away from the foes.

            The Dugtrio, finally ready to act, sped through the dirt toward the team. He then used Earth Power, sending red pulses through the ground that erupted on all for team members. Diego was the most heavily harmed by that attack. Then, Diego yelped as a pair of Mud Slap attacks collided with the back of his head. He turned around to see that the Diglett had targeted him.

            Alfred shouted, “Someone get those two Diglett down! We need to focus our attacks on the leader!”

            Ned shouted back, “I’m on the weaker ones!” He then rushed past Diego and used a second Water Pulse to drop both of the Diglett.

            The Dugtrio then moved to the side with surprising speed to avoid a Dragon Rage from Aurora. Alfred was able to anticipate his movement and blast him with an Icy Wind.

            Diego, seeing the slowed foe, was able to take his chance and use a second Ember to knock the Dugtrio out. The team members breathed sighs of relief at their victory when they heard a familiar voice calling out, “Fall back to the main wall! The enemy is too strong for us to hold them off here!”           

            Ned said, “That is Takara’s voice!” The team looked over to see the second wave, joined by the remaining enemy reinforcements, was overrunning the defenders in the other trenches.

            Diego called out, “I hate to say this, but we need to retreat as well!”

            **His goal of winning glory is not well served by retreating. However, he still has a reasonable knowledge of tactics.**

            His teammates agreed and the four of them climbed out of the trench and began to run towards the farms. As they were doing so, they noticed a large number of Beldum and Metang flying over the retreating Pokémon and then coming back towards the ground. Ned said, “It looks like they are trying to flank us!”

            **This is the same tactic they used on Ana’s team, but on a larger scale.**

            Diego responded, “We should try to stop them. We can’t let the others’ retreat get stalled!”

            Diego, despite being injured, rushed at a unit composed of two Beldum and two Metang. He breathed an Ember into one of the Beldum, dealing massive damage. He then saw the Beldum drop from one of Ned’s Water Guns. As the other Beldum was about to attack Diego, a bolt of electricity shot into it and paralyzed it.

            Diego looked back and saw that Aurora had used Thunder Wave on the enemy Beldum. Alfred then focused on getting close to the paralyzed Beldum; he had a plan for that foe.

            The two Metang, as their allies began to engage the other retreating Pokémon. focused on Aurora and blasted her with Confusion attacks. She resisted the mental assaults as best as she could, as the Beldum failed to recover from paralysis.

            Ned opened up with another Water Pulse, catching all of his enemies in the cone of high-pressure water. Diego then targeted a Metang with an Ember and severely weakened it.

            Aurora then turned to the pair of Metang herself and unleashed a Twister beneath them, which seemed to have less effect than Ned’s attack had. One of the Metang was nearing unconsciousness, however.

            Alfred then opened up with a Fury Swipes on the Paralyzed Beldum, using three claw strikes to faint his target.

            **Alfred rarely closes to melee range. However, he had somewhat of an opportunity there.**

            The pair of Metang then charged Alfred, slashing into him using their Metal Claw moves. Alfred staggered back, with his body having been torn into by his attackers.

            Diego shouted, “Lets end this fight!” He launched another Ember, this time at the less damaged Metang. This one hit the enemy in the back and dropped it.

            Ned then used a Water Gun to conclude the engagement, knocking out the last Metang. The team then, seeing that the enemy’s airborne flanking plan had fortunately failed, continued their retreat towards the town proper.

            As they team approached the main wall Aurora, who was bringing up the rear took an Icy Wind to the back. She nearly fainted as another attack of the same kind shot past her. The team turned around to see a pair of enemy Weavile had moved past the main force and were preparing to engage the team.

            Before the enemies could attack again, Diego rushed towards them and nailed one of the two in the head with an Ember. As that Weavile was knocked back, Aurora, despite her severe injuries, slowly but bravely advanced and caught the two Weavile within the radius of a Twister.

            **Oddly enough we see nameless enemies here from the same evolution line as one of the main team’s members.**

             Alfred then rushed forward and sliced the Weavile who Diego had hit first with his own Metal Claw, causing her to finally faint.

            Ned started to move back and try to engage the remaining Weavile. However, he was unable to get close enough to attack effectively. The Weavile then, seeing that Alfred was her most immediate threat, sliced him in the face with her Metal Claw, dropping him unconscious.

            As the last Weavile turned to flee toward her own advancing side, Diego sniped her with an Ember to the back, shouting, “Not letting you get away!”

            Ned nodded his agreement and used a Water gun to blast the Weavile. Aurora repeated her earlier trick and used Thunder Wave to paralyze the foe. Diego and Ned were able to make quick work of the Weavile after Aurora had paralyzed her. Then, Diego picked up Alfred and the trio began to rush to the main wall once again.

            As the team made their way through the evacuated farms, they saw the catapults on Semberta’s main wall flinging massive boulders, as well as bundles of Blast Seeds, at Kyurem’s army. After a couple salvos of projectiles hit their targets. The team, who were almost to the main gate along with the other retreating forces, saw the main gate open. The Swords of Justice were standing just inside of it. Cobalion shouted, “Now, CHARGE!”

            **The counter-attack finally begins. There were actually quite a few fights in one chapter so far.**

            With the second unit of defenders behind them, the trio of Legendaries rushed into the fray as the catapults were reloaded and re-aimed to target the advancing enemy’s rear forces. Cobalion and his force quickly turned the retreat into an advance as Takara’s unit joined his force in rushing the unprepared and weakened Glacial Kingdom Pokémon.

            The Metagross acting as the leader of the offensive advanced to the front and Mega-Evolved. But, he was completely unable to survive the combined Sacred Sword attacks of Cobalion, Virizion and Terrakion. The three Legendaries continued their push forward as the, now leaderless, enemy army began to make a full retreat. With projectiles raining down on them and their soldiers having lost the will to keep fighting from the unexpected charge, the Glacial Kingdom’s army was routed in under half an hour.

            **That battle got turned around quite quickly…**

            As for Diego and his team, they were busy reviving Alfred and tending to their wounds. They also helped those too injured to help in the counter-charge to retreat. They were unable to assist in their side’s victory beyond what they had done before.

            As Alfred was being brought back up with a Reviver Seed, Ned watched the Swords of justice leading the counter-attack. He simply squeed with excitement, saying afterwards, “I never thought that I would live to see the day where I would see the Swords of Justice fighting evildoers. This is so awesome!”

            **This time, Ned’s fanboy behavior was more justified, pardon the pun. Cobalion’s trio are leading the successful counter-attack right in front of his eyes.**

            As that was happening, Aurora began to glow. Diego looked over to his teammate and saw her body elongating. Aurora evolved from Dratini to Dragonair.

            Diego told Aurora, “Well, it looks like you have evolved now, as well. You look beautiful, by the way.” There being to be only polite acknowledgement of a fact in Diego’s voice.

            **That was me planting a seed for a subplot that never fully materialized. See later in this story for more information.**

            Aurora blushed and said, “Thank you. Now Alfred is the only one of us who has not evolved, yet.”

            After the battle had been won, the team members all returned to Semberta town proper. They met up with the other local team soon after that.

            Zane reported, “It looks like, thanks to the Swords of Justice, our side has repelled the attack. We were able to easily stop the small enemy aquatic force before they made much headway into the docks. Speaking of docks, I see that Aurora has evolved.”

            **He used that segue because of Aurora’s previous job.**

            Aurora thanked Zane for noticing and then Ned looked to Ana and said, folding his short arms, “My team all saw Sir Cobalion and his two comrades lead the effort to surprise attack and drive back the enemy army. What I am getting at, Ana, is that if you take back what you said about him, I will not go to the trouble of telling him your, wrong-headed, opinion.”

            Ana, face-palmed and replied, “Ned, even if he is a hero to many, including you, he is not one to me. That is all I will say on the matter for now.” Ana, with Cordelia in tow, then went to go see if any help was needed just outside the wall.

            Zane and Paul both gave Ned looks and then Paul admitted, “I do think that he is a hero, Ned. He saved my team and my hometown. I just think that, like all of us, he is flawed.”

            **I think that Paul was reasonable to say that, given the circumstances. This internal conflict subplot was supposed to be somewhat grey.**

            Zane and Paul then went off to join Ana and Cordelia. Ned just sighed and told his teammates, “I am going to wait for a few days and see if Ana ‘cools off’ by then. If she still does not admit the truth by that point, I will tell Sir Cobalion of her foolish beliefs.”

            Alfred responded to Ned, “There is a possibility that he may not care. You may think that he will challenge Ana to a duel or something like that, but I would think an ancient warrior like him would be tough enough to not freak out over anything like what Ana thinks. Besides, he and his cohorts will certainly be heroes in the whole frontier region now that they stopped Kyurem’s invading army.”

            **We will have to see if Alfred is right or not about Cobalion…**

            As the team was heading back out to assist in the cleanup effort, Ned responded, “Alfred, you have a good point. However, I will inform Sir Cobalion anyway to make sure that if he sees fit, Ana eats her words.”

            Alfred whispered to Diego, “He was your childhood friend. I am wondering if he is normally this vindictive?”

            Diego Whispered back, “Not at all. He is normally a very nice guy. I guess that having someone insult his greatest hero has put him on edge. I think that he cannot stand the idea that anyone would criticize any of the Swords of Justice, especially their leader.”

            **Diego does know Ned the best out of any of his teammates, so his word on the subject of Ned’s personality should be accurate.**

            The team helped in cleanup and repairs for the rest of the day. It was estimated that only one fourth or less of Kyurem’s army escaped from the battle safely. The rest were either killed in action or were captured and taken to the remaining cells in the local prison. It was decided to not fill in most of the defensive trench, just to be safe for the future. Over the next week, cleanup from the battle was completed and the news of the victory was spread to the other nearby settlements. The two Guild teams did some work hunting down and eliminating enemy stragglers who had not reached the main retreating force successfully and fending off wild Pokémon who had been drawn to the area by the battle’s aftermath and were looking to scavenge.  

            In the morning, a week from their victory, Ana had still refused to declare Cobalion a hero in her eyes. Ned, in response, said to his teammates that he was going to go find and speak with Cobalion. Cobalion had stayed in the area, along with his two followers, so as to help with the eventual counterattack on Kyurem’s palace.

            **Ned was obviously pleased that the Swords of Justice stayed around after their earlier victory.**

            After Ned had left, Diego and Aurora were eating breakfast together. Aurora brought up, “I heard that Ana and her team arrived late from wiping out the last known group of Glacial Kingdom stragglers last night. Still, Sherry told me that Ana went out to watch the sunrise at the docks, again.”

            Diego responded, “I just hope that Sir Cobalion does not mind what Ana thinks, or just does not care. I do not want us dealing with more internal conflict. Seeing how many Pokémon around here now share Ned’s view of Cobalion, Ana would be in the minority for sure.”

            Aurora replied, “I think that Ned is making too big a deal out of this, to be honest.”

            Diego quickly responded, “I agree, actually, I have tried to talk Ned out of his plan multiple times. However, he has told me that he needs to support his hero.”

            **Diego tried to be the voice of reason. But, Ned would not hear reason even from his oldest friend in this case.**

            Aurora looked moderately surprised and told Diego, “I am happy to hear that you have had the good sense to realize that nothing good will come of Ned’s ‘crusade’ against Ana.”

            Diego nodded and pointed out, “I have nothing to gain from those close to me fighting. In fact, I have plenty to lose from it! Also, I do care about Ned and, to a lesser extent Ana. I think it is for the best if their argument gets solved, quickly.”

            **He may or may not get his wish…**

            Aurora replied, “Well, it is good to know that you are not all about winning glory. Anyway, Alfred has told me that he will support Ana, no matter what. Given their pasts, it makes sense…speaking of Ana.”

            Ana had just come barging through the door. She was out of breath and smiling. She told Diego and Aurora, after regaining her breath, “We need to get Zane and Cordelia up! There is someone who just arrived in town that I want you all to meet.”


	14. The Herald of the Guardian

            Diego, Aurora, Zane, Paul, Alfred and Cordelia were standing at the docks, where Ana had told them to wait. Paul had been retrieved from his house and Alfred had been retrieved from the Guild office. Ana had told them all that a new visitor of great importance had just arrived in Semberta Town. 

            As the six Guild Pokémon were awaiting Ana’s return, Diego told Ana’s teammates, “Do you know that Ned went to find Cobalion? He intends to tell him what Ana said before.”

            Cordelia replied, “I have honestly started to dislike Ned. His behavior toward Ana is, in my opinion, unacceptable. Anyway, hopefully Cobalion will let it ‘roll off his shoulders’ and Ned will have wasted his effort.”

            **Seeing as though Cordelia has feelings for Ana, she would obviously harbor resentment towards anyone who is hostile towards her.**

            Zane then said, “I see Ana rounding the corner. Who is that with her?”

            The six Guild Pokémon saw that a large, blue, female, four-legged Pokémon was following Ana. The new visitor had a large purple “mane” coming off of her head as well as a large blue crystalline structure.

            **This story ended up with too many Legendaries by then end of it. That bloat just got worse in the third installment of the ROC Trilogy. I might comment more on that later. The Pokémon introduced here actually plays a somewhat-important narrative role at least.**

            After Ana and her companion reached the larger group, Ana said, “This is Suicune. She is here on behalf of an old friend of my family.”

            Alfred’s jaw dropped as he exclaimed, “Another Legendary Pokémon has shown up! I used to think that you had to really look to find them.”

            **He makes a good point… See my above comment.**

            Suicune could not help but laugh briefly, but her face took on a more serious tone as she explained, “I am indeed here for a purpose. I found Ana here at the docks and it turns out that she knows the one I am currently serving.”

            Aurora asked, “And who might that be?”

            Ana smiled as Suicune continued, “I am ‘on loan’ from my real master, Lord Ho-oh, to his sister, Lady Lugia. She is going to be arriving in Semberta Town within the week and I was sent here ahead of her to alert the local authorities so they would not be alarmed by her upcoming appearance.”

            Zane then pointed out, “As our friend Alfred hinted at, you are not the first Legendary Pokémon to visit us recently. We just survived an invasion launched on behalf of Kyurem thanks to the three Swords of Justice.”

            Suicune looked surprised and then replied, “I was wondering where the Swords of Justice had been up to over the last couple centuries. And yes, I have a good idea of who Kyurem is. He is known to be a very cold and bitter Pokémon, both literally and figuratively.”

            **Most Legendary Pokémon know at least the basic details about other of their kind.**

            Ana then said, “My parents’ team helped to save Lady Lugia from the Imperium’s custody before I was born. She visited Polumbos Town once when I was very little. That was even before my brother Rico was born, actually.”

            Suicune interjected, “Lady Lugia will explain the purpose of her visit when she arrives. I have been ordered to alert the local authorities that she will be coming in a matter of days. Please show me where the aforementioned local authorities are.”

            **In this story, I began to refer to many Legendary Pokémon with noble titles. I have been adding even more instances of that with this release for the sake of consistency.**

            Paul responded, “We can do that. Let’s all go to the Sheriff’s office.”

            Diego then added, “Maybe we can find Ned while we are over there?”

            Aurora and Alfred agreed to Diego’s statement and the group of Eight Pokémon sent off through town to the northern wall. Various citizens stopped their business to look over at Suicune as they passed. Some of them whispered to each other, wondering if she was also a member of the Swords of Justice.

            **Most mortal Pokémon do not know the differences between similar-looking Legendaries.**

            When the group reached the office, they saw Cobalion, Ned and Virizion. Ned had his arms sort of folded and had a triumphant look on his face. Virizion and Suicune both smiled happily when they saw each other.

            Virizion said, “Suicune, it has been literally ages since we saw each other! What are you doing here?”

            Suicune replied, “I am here to alert the local’s that Lady Lugia will soon be arriving in this settlement. She will explain why she has come to the frontier when she arrives.”

            **Legendary Pokémon are sort of like family in this setting, since they are almost all direct creations of Arceus, or were created by a direct creation of Arceus. Mewtwo and Genesect being the main exceptions.**

            Cobalion told Suicune, “It is good to see you, Suicune, we could certainly use your help and the Lady Lugia’s against the forces of Kyurem. I think that he might have fallen under the influence of Giratina himself!”

            Suicune chuckled and replied, “We will have to see. Anyway, Cobalion I see that you have not changed a bit. Last time I saw you, you were blaming the corruption of humanity and their ultimate destruction on Giratina’s influence.”

            **I sense a pattern…**  

            Ned then interjected, “While it is awesome to meet yet another famous Pokémon, I believe that Sir Cobalion has something to say to Ana.”

            Cobalion stepped forward and looked Ana in her eyes, he then said, “I have been told by my young admirer Ned that despite what we have done for your team and this town that you are not satisfied. While I do not intend to force others to admire my comrades and I, nor do we do what we do for the admiration of others, you are clearly wrong-headed in this scenario. Therefore, you will either apologize to us now, or duel me, just the two of us.”

            As Diego, Aurora, Alfred and the rest of Ana’s team groaned loudly. Ana stepped forward and said, “I will not apologize. I accept your challenge!”

            **Yeah, I think it would have been out of character to have her back down.**

            Ned looked shocked at first, but then he smiled. Virizion then said, “Suicune, I can help you find the local Sheriff. She is with Terrakion at the moment looking over plans for a possible assault on the palace where Kyurem lairs.”

            Suicune went with Virizion, as Cobalion responded to Ana by saying, “I admire your bravery. We will meet in a private place, in three days, to duel. Each of us will pick a referee to follow us and make sure that either side does not cheat or take lethal action against the other. I will pick Ned here, since he brought your words to my attention.”

            Cordelia looked up at Ana as Ned was squeeing louder than he ever had. She said, “Ana, I am sorry, but I cannot stand to see you get hurt like I am sure you will in this duel.”

            **Ned seems to have gotten his way for the time being.**

            Ana sighed and said, “I understand. I have to do this, however. I have to stand up for what I think is best. Aurora, would you referee for me? I do not want any of my teammates, or Alfred, to see this duel.”

            Aurora replied, “Sure, Ana, I will be your referee.”

            As Diego shook his head at the, clearly super-excited, Ned, Cobalion declared, “It is settled then, we will find a place to duel and meet there in three days!”

            Cobalion left to go find his comrades and Suicune, as Ned re-joined his team. Ana told her teammates, “Let’s go find a location for the duel. Somewhere fair, but secluded.” As Ana’s teammates shot glares at Ned, who ignored them, they all left.

            Alfred walked up to Ned and spit on him dramatically. He then exclaimed, “The girl I love is going to get grievously injured unnecessarily because of you!”

            **I forgot about the spitting part… Still, I make no apologies for Alfred.**

            Ned did not retaliate, he just responded, “Once she is beaten, I will not pursue this any farther. I promise you that. What if someone insisted that your parents, or even Ana’s parents, were not heroes for whatever reason?”

            Alfred turned away from Ned and muttered, “I hope she gets a few good hits in, at least.”

            Alfred then turned back to Ned and shouted, “Your hero worship is blind!” He then ran off to return to the Guild office.

            Diego told Ned, “Dude, you messed this up. Next time, if there is a next time, you need to be more able to agree to disagree.”

            **Ned has now been burned by his team. None of them seem to agree with his decision.**

            Aurora nodded her agreement with Diego and the pair walked and slithered off. Ned was left alone, but he said nothing to his retreating teammates.

\---

            Ana and her team had picked a small, surprisingly flat, outcropping of rock, just east down the road from Semberta Town, to host the duel. Ana, Cobalion, Aurora and Ned had traveled down the road for a couple hours and then arrived at the outcropping.

            **I should have added the section break up there in the initial release.**

            On some raised rocks, Aurora and Ned took up their positions to watch the duel. Ned told Aurora, “As mad at me as you surely are, I want you to know that I do not mind you referring for Ana.”

            Aurora looked back at Ned and angrily replied, “What worries me, for your sake, is that you have alienated all of your friends by starting this. Most importantly, you have angered Diego, your best friend. He is a better Pokémon than I thought he was. It would be a shame for you two to lose your friendship over your rash actions.”

            **Aurora makes a series of good points. This could have been avoided if Ned had never told Cobalion, who turned out to be more mentally fragile than everyone expected.**

            As Ana and Cobalion took their places, Ned responded, “Aurora, once this duel is over I will stop. I have already said as much. Now, I just want to see my hero in action.”

            Aurora humphed at Ned and then turned to watch the duel begin.

            Ana readied herself for the fight; she sensed relative calm in Cobalion as he prepared to fight as well. She sensed an odd mix of emotions in both Aurora and Ned, who were watching the combatants take their places.

            Cobalion then called out to Ana, “Ready when you are!”

            Ana nodded and then Cobalion said, “Let’s finish this before it begins.”

            Cobalion rushed Ana at top speed. Rather than attacking him directly Ana opened her mouth and used Screech on him. Cobalion was distracted, but not distracted enough. His Sacred Sword attack hacked into Ana, massively wounding her in a single shot.

            **That was an interesting strategy from Ana. She was trying to weaken her foe’s defenses so that she could get actually damaging hits in later.**

            Ana then countered with a Force Palm to Cobalion’s face. The strike barely seemed to hurt him, though. As Cobalion was staggered for a second Ana ran back a bit to prepare for his next attack. However, she knew that she was unlikely to withstand another attack from her mighty foe.

            Cobalion said, “Good shot, but not good enough.” He charged again only to just barely miss Ana with Sacred Sword.

            Ana then delivered another Force Palm, this time to her foe’s chest.        

            Watching the battle from the rocks, Aurora knew that it was only a short matter of time before Ana fell to Cobalion. Ned was simply bouncing up and down with excitement. Aurora gave him a look of disdain, which he did not notice. 

            Having been backed to the designated edge of the “arena” Ana stood her ground. As Cobalion reared up she shouted, “Your winning does not change my opinion a bit!”

            Cobalion was not distracted and he formed the blade of energy above his head. Then, a massive shape burst from the water. Cobalion turned around partially and Ana was able to dodge the sword of energy he swung at her.

            **Here she comes! Time for my favorite Legendary to take a serious role in the series’ narrative.**

            Lugia landed lightly on the rocks and surveyed the scene before her. Aurora and Ned looked up at the huge Legendary Pokémon as she, clearly annoyed and confused, declared, “I think I find a nice, out of the way, place to surface safely and there is a battle going on right on top of it!” Then, Lugia blinked and looked at the Pokémon below her. She asked, “Cobalion? …What is going on here?”

            Cobalion looked up at Lugia without any hint of fear and responded, “Well, my Lady, we are just finishing up a duel. This is a matter of honor, you see.”

            **That was a slightly amusing exchange.**

            Cobalion knocked Ana to the ground, with a hoof, as she tried to back away from him. Aurora and Ned were still staring up at the majestic avian when Ana shouted, “Lady Lugia, hi, it’s me, Ana. Kyla and Chadwick’s daughter!”

            **She is hoping that Lugia will prevent her from being knocked out.**

            Lugia chuckled and remarked, “Oh, Ana, how you have grown. Wait… why is Cobalion fighting you?”

            Ned meekly raised a hand and said, “Well, ma’am, it is because Ana here said that Sir Cobalion is not a hero.”

            Aurora then spoke up to say, “Ana disagrees with Cobalion’s disapproval of homosexuality. She does not see him as a hero because she thinks he is devaluing her existence.”

            **Both of them explained their side of the argument perfectly from their own perspectives. At least, as far as I am concerned. I generally think that the middle of this story was one of the stronger parts of the ROC series as a whole. The friend of mine who Beta-read the first story agreed with me on that. He thought that this arc was one of my better writings.**

            Lugia shook her head and said, “This will not do! Cobalion, I know you have never liked homosexuals, but harming one of them will only make you look worse and besides, she is an acquaintance of mine. This silliness needs to be stopped, now!”

            Cobalion mentally processed Lugia’s words and then, for once cowed, backed away from Ana, allowing her to stand up. Ned sighed as Aurora smirked and said, “Thank you, Lady Lugia, your arrival here seems to have saved Ana from quite a thrashing.”

            **Even Cobalion fears Lugia’s raw power and respects her status.**

            Ana ran up and hugged one of Lugia’s legs as Cobalion said, “Ned, come on, we might as well be getting back to Semberta.” Ned agreed, reluctantly, having wanted to see a real end to the duel. He then climbed onto Cobalion’s back and the two of them took off.

            **Ana is probably just relieved that she did not officially lose the duel.**

            Cobalion told Ned, “Her being what she is will be punishment enough. Besides, I have clearly proven my superior combat skills to her without rendering her unconscious.” Ned nodded his understanding to Cobalion as they headed back to town.

            **That last statement by Cobalion was even meaner than I remember it being.**

            Back at the outcropping, Lugia said, “Well, now that we have prevented Ana from being brutalized, we should be on our way to Semberta Town. I trust that Suicune is already there.”

            Ana replied, “Yes, my Lady, she has told the mayor and the Sheriff of your coming arrival. Why are you visiting the frontier anyway?”

            Lugia told Ana, “I have possible ‘business’ on this continent, which I will reveal to all the Pokémon of Semberta Town. Hopefully they will be of some assistance to me in my quest. Anyway, who is your friend?”

            Aurora answered for Ana, “My name is Aurora. I work for a different Guild team from Ana in Semberta Town. Ned, the Wartortle who idolizes Cobalion, is actually a teammate of mine.”

            **Aurora was probably not proud of that fact in the moment. Ned being one of her teammates that is.**

            Lugia then said, “You two get onto my back, we are going to land near the town and then walk in through the east entrance.”

            Aurora and Ana did as they were told and then they did their best to hold as Lugia lifted off and flew to the outskirts of Semberta Town.

\---

            Diego and Alfred, as well as Ana’s teammates were waiting at the east entrance with Virizion, Terrakion and Suicune when they saw Lugia landing near the town. Suicune announced, “That is her, the Lady Lugia.”

            **I added in another, previously missing, section break up there.**

            As the gathered Pokémon rushed forward they saw Cobalion and Ned in the distance. Ana and Aurora dismounted Lugia. Diego looked over and saw the look of relief in Alfred’s face to see Ana wounded, but fundamentally fine.

            As the trio of females approached Diego looked up at the great avian and his heart began to beat rapidly. His eyes blinked and he felt something he had never felt before. He could only think one thing…. Size and presumptive age be damned, she was the most beautiful Pokémon he had ever seen.

            **And that begins one of the strangest sub-plots in any of my stories. More on that later.**


	15. The Guardian’s Arrival

            Diego and his team were standing among a veritable sea of local Pokémon in the center of Semberta Town. Nearby them were Ana’s team, the Swords of Justice, Sheriff Takara, her deputies and mayor Elias. Lugia had just walked into the center of Town and was preparing to speak to the local residents. 

            Diego was still looking up at Lugia and marveling at her. Aurora had informed her teammates about what had transpired in the duel between Ana and Cobalion and how Lugia had forced Cobalion to back down before he could render Ana unconscious. Ned was silent on the events of the duel. He and Diego had actually not spoken the whole day, for once.

            Mayor Elias announced, “Everyone, our famed guest is about to explain her presence here. Please be quiet.”

            Lugia, who had met up with Suicune, cleared her throat after Elias made his announcement and then began, “Thank you Mayor… Years ago, I had made a pact to serve as the guardian of a city on the northern edge of the world’s central continent. During my tenure as guardian, a force of hostile Pokémon calling themselves the Imperium invaded the northern coast from a nearby island. During the initial invasion, I fought against an elite officer of the Imperium, who they had recently recruited at the time. He was and is a Hydreigon who I have learned now goes by the name of Salazar. Salazar and his elite squadron were able to defeat me in a pitched battle over the town’s fate. I was chained for years in my own temple where Salazar tortured me viciously. He tried to break me so that I would submit to and join the Imperium. When a team from the Pokémon Adventurers Guild, including Ana’s parents, rescued me, they were unable to prevent Salazar from fleeing. I have spent the last few years trying to track Salazar down so as to bring an end to him. He is one of the most thoroughly evil Pokémon that I have known and I believe that he is a danger to any region he comes to inhabit.”

            **Even Lugia is not entirely above vengeance. However, she also knows how dangerous Salazar is in particular. She does not want him freely roaming the world.**

            As Cobalion gave a very awkward look to a smiling Ana, Lugia took a deep breath and continued, “Salazar is believed to have not ‘gone down with the ship’ when the Imperium collapsed. My latest lead has me believe that he is in the frontier region. He is a cruel, sadistic and dangerous Pokémon, not to mention somewhat deranged. I have come to this town to use it as a base of operations to begin my hunt for Salazar. I am willing to negotiate with regard to what I can give you in return for your help in my hunt.”

            **The name Salazar came from the name of the founder of the Slytherin house in the Harry Potter books. He went nameless during his brief appearance in Wake of Humanity.**

            Ana stepped forward and said, “Lady Lugia, we just survived an attack from the forces of a Legendary Pokémon named Kyurem. Cobalion says that he wants to sacrifice the inhabitants of this town to someone named Giratina.”

            Lugia interjected, “Kyurem, the remnant of the ancient western dragon? He is here on this continent as well? If you are in conflict with Kyurem, then Suicune and I could help you with that in exchange for your help in locating and eliminating Salazar.”

            **Seems like a fair deal for both sides.**

            Elias stepped forward and told Lugia, “As the mayor of this settlement, I think we can work something out. We are planning an expedition to the Glacial Palace to defeat Kyurem, now that his army has been routed. If you could fly to the nearby towns and help us gather reinforcements for our expedition, that would be most appreciated. Once Kyurem is defeated, we can do our best to help you locate and defeat Salazar.”

            Lugia pondered what Elias had said and then replied, “Alright then. Since Kyurem is clearly a threat to you all, I will help you to stop him. Then, you will help me to put an end to Salazar.”

            **Lugia still wants to protect the innocent. To her, killing Salazar is a major part of advancing that end.**

            Elias shook one of Lugia’s wing-hands. As that was happening, Aurora mentioned to Diego, “Hey, Diego, I just realized something. When Kyurem’s armies drove south across the wasteland, did they encounter Arya? And if so, what happened to her?”

            Diego snapped out of staring at Lugia and responded, “You know, that is a good question. We should try to find out what happened to her. She could have gotten captured or killed by the enemy army!”

            Aurora then slithered up to Lugia and Suicune and said, “Lady Lugia, Lady Suicune. There is a Pokémon who saved our team in the past… she is a hermit who lives in the wastelands. I am worried about what happened to her when Kyurem’s forces marched across the wastelands.”

            Alfred then whispered, “Personally, I do not care what happened to Arya. She is no friend or ally of mine.”

            **That was a bit callous of Alfred. However, his motivations have been explained earlier.**

            Ned, Diego and the others looked up at Lugia to see her response. Lugia then looked down at Aurora and replied, “If you wish, I will send Suicune out with you to investigate what happened to this hermit. Suicune can move at amazing speed across land or water, so she can take you there and back within hopefully a day or two. As for me, I will fly off to the nearby settlements to convince them to send help to defeat Kyurem.”

            Aurora said, “Thank you, my Lady.”

            Then, as Lugia was about to leave, Diego quickly said, “Lady Lugia, why don’t the rest of my team go with you to… help talk to the locals there and provide support incase anything happens, not like you could not handle it yourself.”

            **Diego wants to impress her, that much should be obvious.**

            Alfred added, “I am up for that.”

            Ned then said, “I will stay here, actually.”

            Lugia looked down at Diego and Alfred and asked, “Sneasel, are you by chance Alfred? The son of Akira and Guild Master Shade?”

            Alfred nodded yes and then Lugia replied, “Ok then. I will trust the child of the Guild’s leaders. You and your Charmeleon friend can ride on my back as I travel to the nearby settlements.”

            Alfred then said, “Great, I will first need to get a map from the office and tell my assistant, Riko, to hold down the fort while I am away.”

            As Lugia was nodding, she noticed Zane nearby Ana and mentioned, “Ana, I find it amusing that one of your teammates is a Sableye. Your parents told me that their first major foe was also one and that he kidnapped one of their teammates before being brought to justice.”

            **Lugia has to have a great memory as a being that is thousands, or maybe even millions, of years old.**

            Zane backed up a bit as Ana began to sweat heavily. The three Swords of Justice looked over at the obviously nervous Zane. Cordelia looked worried and Paul could not help but smirk since he was still mad at Zane for getting the team captured earlier.

            **A bit of a dick move by Paul, not that it matters much here.**

            Lugia easily picked up on what was going on and she looked Ana in the eyes. Ana shrugged her shoulders and said, “He’s been reformed now…”

            Lugia just sighed, nodded her head and said, “Ana, I am normally willing to forgive those former evildoers who want to good. However, your parents are going to ‘kill’ you if or when they find out. Not just because he was an outlaw of course, considering your mother’s past.”

            **It sounds like Kyla told Lugia about her past. She was pretty open about it in the previous installment.**

            Zane just continued to look awkward as Alfred went off to the Guild office. Suicune walked up to Aurora and said, “You should probably coil yourself around my midsection. It is the best way for you to hold on.”

            Aurora nodded as Diego was still admiring Lugia, while trying to look like he was not. Aurora then waited for Suicune to lower herself so that she could wrap herself around Suicune’s body. Once that was done Suicune walked away from the crowd and then said, “And away we go!”

            **That line about Diego was moderately funny. He does not simply want to stare at Lugia, that would be too obvious.**

            A strong wind blew in out of nowhere, propelling Suicune forward along with Aurora. The duo was whisked out of town with blinding speed.

            Alfred soon returned with the map and he, Diego and Lugia walked out of town. Then, the two boys got onto Lugia’s back and they took off for Cocen Town.

            **I had to remove a redundant phrase from that section for the re-release. I wish that I had caught that one in the first wave of edits.**

**\---**

            Suicune and Aurora spent the rest of the day rapidly approaching where Aurora remembered Arya’s shack was. That night, they made a camp in a small cluster of trees. When she was about to go to sleep, Aurora looked up at Suicune as she kept watch and then asked her, “Suicune, I have heard you serve Lugia’s brother Lord Ho-oh. Why do you serve another Pokémon if you are a Legendary yourself?”

            Suicune chuckled and then told Aurora, “Once, ages ago, I was a mortal Pokémon and so were my mate and his brother. We were all born as Eevee, I became a Vaporeon, my mate became a Jolteon and his brother became a Flareon. We were staying in an old tower built by early humans where it was consumed in fire. We all perished. However, Lord Ho-oh, one of the last direct children of Arceus and the incarnation of the sun in the material world, used a portion of his power to resurrect us. In exchange for immortal life, we became his loyal servants. Raikou, my mate, became an incarnation of thunder. His brother, Entei, became a great beast with a power over volcanic fire. I became the incarnation of the north wind, which I use to travel with great speed over land and water.”

            **I made a popular fan-theory about the Legendary Beasts canon in my setting. I thought that not every legendary Pokémon would have been created by Arceus, even if most were.**

            Aurora was fascinated by Suicune’s story. She then asked, “What was it like… being dead?”

            Suicune grimaced, and then replied, “I remember a moment of it still, the three of us facing a Pokémon called Yveltal. He is the king of the dead and rules the afterlife. That is all that I know of him. One moment, we were before him, ready to be judged and the next we were alive again and in new bodies.”

            **Yveltal was the incarnation of destruction/death in his original appearance. I re-imagined him as the ruler of those who have passed on and those Pokémon who guard their souls.**

            Aurora nodded and then said, “I have one more question. If Lord Ho-oh and Lady Lugia were made my Arceus directly, how can they be siblings?”

            Suicune replied, “They were created by Arceus at the same time and therefore they have always considered each other to be their siblings.”

            Aurora nodded her understanding and then said, “Thank you for all of that information. That actually clears up quite a lot for me. We should both try get some rest now.”

            **That was probably one of my better-written expo dumps in the series. I managed to divide the exposition up more effectively that time.**

            The next day, Suicune and Aurora were fast approaching the shack. Suicune told Aurora, “I do not see anyone there at this distance. We should move in for a closer look.”

            Aurora nodded and Suicune sped towards the small building. When the duo arrived, Aurora dismounted Suicune. Aurora was glad to have Suicune’s company on the trip, but she knew that if she were already a Dragonite that she would have been able to make the trip herself easily.  The first thing that the pair noticed was that the door of the shack had been ripped off of its hinges and was lying nearby.

            Aurora commented, “Well, that does not look good.”

            Suicune added, “Obviously, now let’s go inside. You follow me in…and be careful.”

            Suicune and Aurora walked inside the shack where they found obvious signs of a struggle. Items were strewn all over the shack’s interior and there were burn marks all over the walls, presumably from Arya’s fiery attacks.

            After inspecting the shack, the duo went out back and saw that any food that had been in the garden was gone as well. Aurora sighed and said, “It appears that she has been captured, I do not see a body anywhere. I also do not see any sacrificial outlines.”

            Suicune then somberly added, “She would presumably have been taken to the Glacial Palace, where Kyurem resides. She could be dead already.”

            Aurora replied, “We need to get back to Semberta Town and inform the others. Because Arya rescued my team we need to do our best to rescue her!”

            **Aurora wants to repay Arya for her earlier kindness even if Arya could be dead already.**

            Suicune nodded and then Aurora climbed back onto her. The duo quickly set off to return to town.

\---

            Lugia, along with Diego and Alfred, had spent the last few days flying over to Cocen Town and another town farther down the coast. The trio had been successful in convincing the locals in those settlements that sending some capable fighters to Semberta was in their best interest. As they were airborne and headed to Semberta Town to rest there, Alfred asked Lugia, “Just wondering, what do you know about Kyurem Lady Lugia?”

            Lugia replied, “I know that ages ago, when humanity was still young and still alive, there was a grand Dragon Pokémon created by Arceus to be the protector of a large continent to the west of here. That dragon befriended the royal family of humans which ruled the continent for centuries. At one point, there were two twin crown princes. Each of them had a claim to their father’s throne and each of them valued one ethical concept over all others. The genderless dragon was torn between the two princes and split into three lesser Pokémon. These are the Lady Reshiram, the Lord Zekrom and the ‘leftovers’ of the transformation, Kyurem.”

            **That was, of course, a canonization of Unova lore in this series. Notice how Kyurem did not get a noble title.**

            Alfred said, “I think I have heard some of this before. My father might have once told me a version of that story.”

            **Shade was a reputed scholar, after all.**

            Lugia then continued, “Kyurem is a powerful Pokémon, but he feels that he has no place in this world.”

            Diego then interjected, “Lady Lugia, is that why he could have become a follower of Giratina? Cobalion says that Giratina is the one responsible for all of the evil in the world.”

            Lugia replied, “I do not think that Giratina is the complete ‘Father of Evil.’ But, he is rumored to have been the third original child of Arceus. Legends, which are obscure even to me, say that he was banished to another dimension of our reality for being too violent and destructive for Arceus to have tolerated.”

            Diego asked, “I know that Cobalion could be wrong, but why would Giratina want to have Pokémon sacrificed to him?”

            Lugia replied, “I will say this, all Pokémon have innate energy inside of them, some far have more than others. That is how the humans controlled some of us using Pokéballs centuries ago. Inhibitor restraints suppress that energy to an extent that is still safe for the captive in order to prevent them from using that energy through moves. What I am getting at is that if Giratina has found a way to transfer the energy of Pokémon into himself through their deaths, he can increase his already considerable power. Either way, from what you have told me we need to stop Kyurem so as to make sure that no more innocents are killed, regardless of where their energy is going.”

            **There is certainly an evil plot afoot here. Also, this chapter certainly had a lot of lore explanations. It also coincidentally marks the rough halfway point for this story.**  

            Diego said, “Of course, we need to stop Kyurem so that no more innocents suffer!”

            Alfred gave Diego a minor look, wondering how much he meant what he had said.

            **He was certainly trying to seem heroic to Lugia.**

            Soon after the conversation was finished, Lugia landed just outside of Semberta Town. When she walked back inside, she saw that Suicune and Aurora were awaiting them.

            Aurora exclaimed, “Diego, Alfred, we went to the shack, only to find that Arya was most likely captured by the enemy! We need to launch the expedition sooner so that we have a shot at preventing her sacrifice!”

            Lugia replied, “We have gotten some help pledged to us from the two nearby towns. We should go talk to your mayor and Sheriff, as well as Cobalion, and see what they think.”

            Alfred told Aurora, “I still do not think she is worth saving. But, from what Lady Lugia just told us, it is best that we prevent any more sacrifices from being made to Giratina.”

            Aurora then added, “We also need to find Ned and the other team. I have quite a bit to tell them about Suicune and her brethren.”

            As Lugia went off to the Sheriff’s Office, Diego, Aurora and Alfred went off to find the other Guild Pokémon.


	16. Moving on the Glacial Palace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter begins from Arya’s point of view and then switches back to Diego’s. Then, it switches back to Arya’s perspective.

            A few days before Lugia’s arrival in Semberta Town:

            Arya still felt drowsy as she awoke in a cold dungeon cell. There was a series of iron bars between her and a nearby hallway. The floor, walls and ceiling were made of a solid looking stone. As Arya struggled to stand up, she realized that chained inhibitors shackled both of her pairs of legs. She looked out into the hallway of the dungeon and then slowly walked up to the bars on her cell. She then sarcastically called out, “Great, imprisoned again. I wonder who has seen fit to lock me away this time?”

            She then heard a vaguely familiar voice say, “Oh, you are finally awake. The herbal drugs they used to keep you unconscious were quite effective I see.”

            Arya tried to put the voice to a name in her head as a male Hydreigon floated into view in the dungeon’s hallway. He was wearing black and red robes that bore no other symbols.    

            Arya staggered back in her chains and exclaimed, “Salazar, you are alive? Why are YOU keeping me captive?”

            **Apparently, they have met before.**

            Salazar laughed and responded, “I was intrigued when I was told that a female Ninetales had been taken prisoner and brought back to the palace. As it turns out, it was you, Arya. I remember that we only met once, when I joined the Legion over a year after the Imperium was formed. Soon after that I was off to the mainland…”

            **Yes, they have indeed.**

            Arya sternly continued, “That does not answer my question, why are you holding me prisoner? I would appreciate you releasing me.”

            Salazar responded, “If only it were that simple, but it is not. You see, after the Imperium fell, I realized, with some help, that this world does not need to be made more orderly. In fact, it is far too orderly.”

            Arya cocked her head and said, “That is… not something I agree with. You know that I believed in what the Imperium was doing, what Mewtwo was doing. Also, of course it got me nearly crowned the first Empress. However, that did not matter as much to me as making our world safer.”

            Salazar shot back, “And it failed, now didn’t it. I will not waste any further time with this discussion. However, let me say this, I am willing to see if you can be convinced that what needs to be done to this world is something you should be a part of.”

            **He is still playing his cards close to the chest, even though she is helpless. I probably did not want any critical “spoilers” getting out to readers at this point in the story.**

            Arya then interjected, “I have no idea what you mean, but I assume you want me to join you on whatever mad quest you are on. If I refuse, then what happens to me?”

            Salazar drew a knife with a jagged black blade and said, “Then, I will do my duty as High Priest and sacrifice you. A powerful Pokémon such as yourself will make a wonderful sacrifice.”

            Arya gulped as Salazar leaned forward and traced his knife across her neck. She then nervously replied, “How much time do I have to choose?”

            **He is as deranged as Lugia said he was.**

            Salazar added, “I will give you maybe two weeks, three tops. Then, if you still refused my generous offer, you will be taken to an altar and slain.”

            Arya gulped again, but still gave her captor a defiant look. In her mind, she wondered if keeping her life was even worth joining Salazar’s new cause for.

            Salazar then finished, “I believe I have a meeting with my host, his majesty, Kyurem. He says that we have suffered a major setback and that I am needed to discuss it with him. Goodbye, Arya. Think over what I have said. I could use a powerful Pokémon like yourself.”

            Arya watched as Salazar floated away. She knew that, in the end she would not likely join his new cause of disorder. She thought, “If Salazar’s new cause involves murdering those who refuse to join, then why would I want to help him? Well, I might as well cherish the few weeks of life I have left. I hate the idea of dying as a helpless victim but what choice do I have?”

\---

            The eight Guild Pokémon were once again, packed into the Guild office. Lugia, Suicune, the Swords of Justice and Sheriff Takara were all discussing the feasibility of attacking the Glacial Palace. They were going to report their decision to the Guild Pokémon by the end of the day.

            Aurora broke the silence by saying. “I still believe that we owe it to Arya to try and save her, if she is still alive.”

            Alfred walked up to Aurora and responded, “I still think that we should not waste resources trying to save her. Any major member of the Imperium does not deserve our consideration.”

            Ana then stood next to Aurora and said, “My grandfather, Geoffrey was killed for doing the right thing by Mewtwo. Also, Valeria, who was a Legion officer, abandoned the whole exercise once Mewtwo was dead. Arya might deserve a second chance. Even if she was intimately close to Mewtwo.”

            **Seeing who her mother is, Ana believes in redemption. That puts her at odds with Alfred here.**

            Diego stood next to Aurora and Ana and said, “She might have saved our lives. The least we can do is try to repay her the favor.”

            Ned looked actually relieved that this new conflict had broken out and stood with Diego saying, “I think we need to take the high ground here and try to save her, regardless of her past.”

            Cordelia and Zane went to stand with Ana as well. They both said that as former criminals they felt obligated to be in support of giving Arya a second chance.

            Paul said, “At this point there is no point in my picking a side. Admittedly, though, we should stop Kyurem from empowering Giratina any further regardless of who dies in order to do that.”

            **Looks like Alfred is the outnumbered one this time.**

            Paul then went over stood with his entire team. Ned and Ana both looked at each other, surprised to be on the same side of the new debate.

            Riko, who was behind the desk said, “Mr. Alfred, I will stand with you and trust your judgment.”

            Alfred responded, “Thank you, Riko. However, you still MUST stop calling me Mr. Alfred.”

            **And that gag comes up for at least the third time so far.**

            At that point, Lugia’s eye could be seen peeking through a window. The Guild members all heard her say, “Everyone, you all need to come outside, we have reached a decision.”

            Diego ran outside first, eager to see the beautiful Lugia again. When the two Guild teams were all outside they saw that Lugia was with the other four Legendary Pokémon as well as Sherriff Takara.

            Cobalion informed the Guild Pokémon, “We have agreed to send out an expeditionary force to attack the Glacial Palace as soon as possible. My trio, and Suicune, as well as Takara here, will lead the ground attack from the front. Your teams will be providing support directly behind us. Lugia will lead our small airborne group in providing air cover for us. The other Pokémon in the group will make up the bulk of our force for this attack.”

            All of the Guild members except for Alfred seemed pleased by this development. Alfred folded his arms and said quietly, “I still do not think we need to leave so soon.”

            **He honestly thought that the world would be better off without Arya.**

            In two days, with all of their reinforcements gathered, a force of around one hundred Pokémon set off from Semberta Town. The group marched to the canyon through the wastelands, dealing easily with any wild Pokémon audacious enough to attack any of them. Then, they funneled through the canyon and came out on the other side.

            About a week from their departure, they faced about fifty Pokémon, which made up the rear guard of Kyurem’s army. With Kyurem still hold up in his palace for all the attackers knew, they easily dispatched the rear guard. This was because the attackers both had five Legendary Pokémon on their side and boasted superior numbers.

            About nine days from when they left Semberta Town, the expeditionary force was finally close enough to be ready to break into the Glacial Palace.

            Cobalion laid his plan out to the assembled Pokémon, “While Lady Lugia leads an attack to destroy any catapults the enemy may have on the walls, I will personally lead my trio and Suicune to break through the front gate of the palace. Then, our main force will charge in and attempt to locate and slay Kyurem. We cannot have him aiding Giratina any longer. It is time for us to end this!”

            Lugia nodded as the expeditionary force cheered. Diego then told Lugia, “Good luck up there, though I doubt you will need it.”

            She nodded back at him, saluted with a wing and then lifted off with her group of about ten flying Pokémon to destroy the palace’s defenses.

            Diego marveled at Lugia’s majesty as she took flight. He could not wait for the day he evolved into Charizard, that way they could fly together. That was a wonderful and marvelous idea to Diego. Diego was snapped out of his daydream by Ned who tapped him on the shoulder and said, “We are following the Swords of Justice in, come on!”

            Diego nodded as the two Guild teams prepared to follow the Legendaries in through the breach they were about to form.

            **This chapter and the next one sort of form a unit together. Events happen a bit out of order in this sequence, I will admit.**

            Back in the dungeon, Arya found that Salazar had come back to see her. He seemed to be in quite a hurry. He told her, “Things have changed such that you cannot be kept alive here any longer. Arya, you need to make your choice now! Join me, or be sacrificed!”

            Arya looked Salazar in the eyes and replied, “From what I can tell, you have decided to spread chaos and death. I cannot do something that Mewtwo would detest and that I personally believe is going to cause more evil than good. I do not have anyone left to live for, anyway. I will not join with you. You will have to kill me!”

            **Arya is actually a Pokémon of strong convictions. She would rather die than betray them.**

            Salazar sighed and said, “Very well. You have strong principles. However, you will die for them today, it seems.” He opened the door to Arya’s cell with a key and then marched her out of it.

            As Salazar was behind Arya, marching her up the stairs. He said, seeming cold to the fact that she was soon to be killed, “Do move faster, we actually do not have much time.”

            A Zweilous at the top of the stairs met Arya and Salazar and then Arya was taken to a massive icy room in which there were three altars. There, Arya saw a massive draconic Pokémon, whom she assumed was Kyurem. He picked her up and placed her on the altar, saying, “Salazar, secure her. We are falling back to the north after she is sacrificed!”

            Salazar nodded and made sure that Arya was bound to the altar securely. Arya thought, as preparations were made for her sacrifice to whoever or whatever Salazar now worshipped, “Arceus, have mercy on my soul. I know you really will not after the Imperium abandoned worshipping you, but it is worth a try.” Arya then looked up at Salazar, who seemed finished with his preparations.

            **As far as Arya knew, she was about to die right there.**

            Salazar drew his ceremonial knife, but then a group of Kyurem’s guards entered the room. They all looked immensely panicked. Kyurem shouted, “Salazar, we are out of time! They must be breaking into the palace!” Then, part of the ceiling collapsed and Salazar looked up and froze in place. He had wondered when she would find him.

            **And here comes Lugia, the cavalry has arrived!**


	17. The Raid on the Glacial Palace

            Diego and his teammates watched the frontal assault on Kyurem’s palace in awe as they charged the front gate. No defenders had come out to meet them yet. However, there were catapults firing icy boulders at the invaders. Lugia and her flying squad were making short work of them, though.

            Terrakion rushed the gate and broke right through it, almost effortlessly. Soon after that, the invaders poured right in to the palace. As Diego and his team followed the four Legendaries into the massive structure, they discovered that most of it was actually a village of sorts. There was a massive icy dome with another, smaller, gate leading into it on the opposite side of the village. The invaders, who began to head for the inner gate, rapidly dispatched the small numbers of Kyurem’s guards in the village.

            **That bit with Terrakion was a callback to a scene in Wake of Humanity with the Mamoswine Theodore doing something very similar.**

             The village’s civilians looked on with awe at the attacking force. Some of them cowered in fear, while others seemed pleased and even excited by the new arrivals. Diego pointed out, “It looks like the walls of the palace are made by some kind of non-melting, non-slippery ice. How is that even possible?”

            Alfred responded, “It is most likely the presence of Kyurem. I heard that the presence of Groudon could control lava. Maybe this is part of why Kyurem does not often leave this place?”

            Ned then mentioned, “Many of the structures inside of the ice walls are made of stone and wood, so I guess he let his subjects make their own housing.”

            Aurora looked up and shouted, “Lugia is headed for the central dome! We should follow her to provide support!”

            The invaders on the ground saw Lugia flying up to the dome, her airborne allies started to attack the small number of defenders on the opposite wall.

            As the expeditionary force rushed the undefended gate, Suicune asked Cobalion, “Why do you think that there are so few defenders here?”

            Cobalion responded, “We destroyed most of Kyurem’s army when we defended Semberta from invasion. Then, we wiped out the much smaller force that he sent out to meet us when we came up here. Now, only a ‘skeleton crew’ remains to defend the castle.”

            **Kyurem is now very low on soldiers. The good guys were smart to counterattack when they did.**

            Then, the invading force reached the inner gate, which was barred and made of metal. Cobalion turned to his allies and shouted proudly, “Remember this day, for today, we are going to thwart a plan constructed by the Father of Evil himself! Today…Kyurem dies! Terrakion!”

            Ned squeed loudly upon hearing his hero give his speech as Terrakion rushed the gate with a Close Combat, which smashed it to pieces. Once again, the invaders charged in.

            **Terrakion is Cobalion’s first choice for clearing obstacles. Even though he or Virizion could likely smash through almost as easily.**

            The defenders of the inner palace were intelligent enough to flee from the charging intruders. The defenders fled down the main hallway of the palace and then split up at a junction where one hallway went right, one went left and one went north.

            As the invaders paused to watch their foes flee, Cobalion started issuing orders, “Virizion, go left with half of our main force, Terrakion, go right with the other half. I will take Suicune and the two P.A.G. teams and go straight ahead!”

            The attack force split up and Cobalion and Suicune led the Guild teams in pursuit of a small group of enemy Sneasel and Goomy.

            The defenders had enough of a head start that they were able to reach Kyurem’s grand chamber without being caught up to by the attackers. When the guards burst in to the chamber, they saw Kyurem, Salazar and a Zweilous as well as a helpless Arya chained to a sacrificial altar.

            Meanwhile, Lugia flew up above the dome and declared, “Time to crash their party.”

            Lugia used Ancient Power to summon a series of large rocks, which then came crashing in through a large part of the dome’s ceiling.

            Lugia then flew in to inspect in inside of the chamber and saw Salazar looking up at her, accompanied by Kyurem and the Zweilous.

            **That was certainly some weirdness with the focus perspective. I do apologize for that.**

            Cobalion, Suicune and the Guild Pokémon burst into the room and faced off against the guards, who had stopped running. They all saw the four Pokémon in the chamber and that Arya was chained to the altar.

            Aurora shouted, “It’s Arya! They are about to sacrifice her.”

            Cobalion looked at Kyurem and said, “At last we meet, face to face. Time to meet your end…you monster!”

            Lugia looked down at Salazar, who had acknowledged her presence and glared, she uttered, “YOU!”

            Then, she smiled and said, “I should have known that you would be working with one as evil as Kyurem. I guess we can knock two Pidgey with one Rock Throw here.”

            **I thought that Lugia’s “Kill two birds with one stone” parody was well-constructed.**

            Kyurem shouted, “Salazar, perform the sacrifice!” He then immediately aimed at Lugia and used his Glaciate move to blast a cone of ice at her.

            Lugia took evasive action and then shouted, “Someone distract Kyurem. I need to eliminate Salazar!”

            Salazar made a sick grin and said, “First, I must do my duty as High Priest.”

            Salazar then took a Twister from Aurora, who shouted, “I can’t let you kill her!” and grimaced.

            Arya looked over at Aurora in shock, as Salazar recovered from the blast he had taken.

            Suicune shouted, “I am on the Zweilous!” She jumped over the guards and sped over to engage the minion of Salazar.

            Lugia screamed at Salazar, “Fight me you bastard!” She then projected her signature move, Aeroblast, from her mouth to collide with Salazar and weaken him.

            Cobalion shouted, “Ned, you and your team back me up! I am going to kill Kyurem!”

            **Cobalion apparently believes in the necessity of “final justice” on those as evil as Kyurem. This story sure did use the word kill a whole lot for one about Pokémon.**

            As Ana and her team engaged the weaker guards, Cobalion used Close Combat to drop a Sneasel and then rushed towards Kyurem.

            Diego breathed an Ember to injure another Sneasel, who was then dropped by Zane’s Fury Swipes. He then followed Cobalion in, reasoning that he wanted to protect and impress Lugia. He also thought that it would earn his team plenty of glory if they helped slay an evil Legendary Pokémon.

            Alfred used Icy wind to help Paul drop a Goomy and then followed Diego. Then, Ned ran in to help Cobalion, without stopping to attack the remaining guards.

            As Suicune was running circles around the Zweilous and Ana’s team were battling the guards. Salazar turned to Lugia and said, “I am not foolish enough to stand and fight you, Lugia. I am powerful, yes, but you are a daughter of Arceus.”

            Lugia was filled with rage and charged up another Aeroblast, when Salazar whipped around and hit her with a Dragon Breath. Lugia was paralyzed by the attack and fell to the ground with a thud.

            Salazar laughed and exclaimed, “Lucky shot by me!”

            **It was actually quite a lucky shot.**

            He then looked down at Arya as Cobalion closed in on Kyurem, saying, “I think your fate needs to wait, I need to eliminate a thorn in my side and bring my master closer to their victory.”

            Salazar floated up to Lugia and raised his black and red knife, aiming at her throat.

            Diego saw that Lugia was in danger. Meanwhile, Cobalion withstood a Dragon Breath from Kyurem and then hacked into his nemesis with a Sacred Sword. Diego, wanting to protect Lugia, broke off the attack to charge at Salazar. He shouted, “Aurora, Ned, help Cobalion. Alfred help me out, please!”

            Alfred blasted Salazar with an Icy Wind, slowing him down long enough for Diego to rush in and Dragon Rage him.

            Aurora used Twister on Kyurem, while Ned ran up and used a Bite on him.

            Suicune was easily besting the Zweilous, using Aurora Beams to snipe him while evading his attempted counterattacks.

            Kyurem used Slash on Ned, but he refused to faint in front of his hero, Cobalion and kept on attacking.

            **At least there was one benefit to Ned’s hero worship. It made him more determined in combat when Cobalion is present.**

            As Ana’s team was finishing the guards, Salazar slowly turned to Diego and said, “Brave kid, time to drop!” He then deployed a Dragon Pulse, which severely wounded Diego and Alfred and further injured the paralyzed Lugia. Salazar then dodged a claw swung by Diego to start floating toward the altar. Fortunately, he was now moving away from Lugia.

            Ned bit Kyurem again and Aurora then detonated another Twister under him. This made Kyurem flinch, letting Cobalion strike him with another Sacred Sword. Kyurem toppled from severe and intense injury. His entire body was engulfed by the same black light from before. 

            Alfred grinned and then sniped Salazar with another Icy Wind, this time he was not slowed much by the move.

            As the last of the guards fell unconscious, Salazar saw Suicune besting his minion and said, “Well, Kyurem is down. You all have delayed the inevitable. My master will still have their revenge on all Arceus has created!”   

            Lugia recovered from Paralysis and stood up, she then looked down at a smiling Diego. She then looked over at Salazar and shouted, “You will not get away this time!”

            As Cobalion, Ned and Aurora went to help finish the Zweilous and Ana’s team began to advance on him, Salazar said, “That is where you are wrong, Lugia. I have been saving this old piece of Imperium technology for a day like this!”

            Lugia flew at Salazar, as he pulled out a metal sphere and then threw it down. The bomb exploded, but it just filed the area with a thick smoke.

            **Like any smart villain, Salazar tends to come prepared.**

            When the smoke cleared, the Zweilous had been downed by a combination of attacks and Salazar was gone. Aurora looked over to the altar to see that Arya was still there and still alive.

            The Zweilous’s body was consumed by the same darkness that had taken Kyurem after he fainted.

            Cobalion said, “Even though I am not sure why Salazar said they, instead of he, I believe that he was referring to Giratina. Who else would want to bring down Arceus’s world but the Father of Evil He was just probably trying to confuse us?”

            Lugia seemed enraged as she screamed, “He got away… again. The son of a bitch escaped us!”

            **Lugia is normally not prone to fits of rage. Salazar was one of the few Pokémon to cause an exception to that rule.**

            Diego nodded, saying, “We will need to track him down and eradicate him for sure.”

            Alfred added, “We have a deal, Lady Lugia. We will help you to locate that monster and bring an end to him.” 

            Cobalion walked over to Lugia and said, “My lady, me and my cohorts will help you in your quest. Now that I have slain Kyurem, my group needs a mission anyways.”

            Aurora slithered over to the altar where Arya was still chained and shouted to Ned, “Ned, come help me get these inhibitors off of Arya. It appears that the Zweilous was carrying the keys. Thankfully, it looks as though they fell off when his body was consumed.”

            Ned grabbed the keys and then rushed over to help Arya out of her chains.

            As Arya was helped off of the altar, Aurora told her, “You know, I insisted that we come here to save you when we discovered that you were probably captured by Kyurem’s minions. We got here in just the nick of time. Salazar almost sacrificed you to Giratina!”

            Upon getting back on the ground, Arya looked Aurora in the eyes and asked, “Why…why did you see it fit to save me?”

**Here is a big insight… I was planning on killing off Arya here at first. Salazar would have sacrificed her successfully. However, at the last moment, I decided that I could do more with her and that it would be better to spare her life.**

            Aurora looked mildly surprised as Alfred looked away from Arya and walked over to talk with Ana’s team. As Cobalion and Suicune went to find the rest of the expeditionary force, Aurora replied, “Well, Arya, you saved us. You defeated the Bagon leader and for that I felt we owed you a debt. Also, we do not want any more Pokémon to get sacrificed!”

            Arya recovered from her shock and looked up at the sky through the hole Lugia had left, “It looks like, despite all those who have died, I live on.” She said, to no one in particular.

            Aurora then told Arya, “I think that you should come to Semberta Town with us, Arya, you are not safe alone in that shack anymore.”

            Arya nodded her agreement, she then said, “Well, thank you. I have not been treated with kindness in a long time. It might be honestly nice to be in company of others again as well.”

            **Thankfully, Arya accepted Aurora’s offer. She was probably going a little stir crazy in that shack anyway.**

            Lugia was still fuming from Salazar’s escape. She then looked down at Diego and calmed down. She smiled at him and said, “Diego, I think that Salazar might have killed me if it was not for you and Alfred!”

            Diego was absolutely filled with pride. Part of it was because he realized that he had saved the life of a Legendary Pokémon. However, it was mostly because he had saved his crush.

            Diego responded, “I did what I thought was right and necessary. I could not stand to see that fiend sacrifice you! Thankfully, Alfred followed me in to help you.”

            Lugia nodded and said, “Thank you very much, regardless.”

            They then turned to see Cordelia and Paul glowing. Cordelia evolved from Meditite to Medicham and Paul evolved from Psyduck to Golduck.

            Cordelia shouted, “Alright, I am taller now!”

            Paul looked at his new hands and said, “I will be able to swim MUCH faster now!”

            **At least according to most Pokédexes that is.**

            Ana then mentioned to Cordelia, “You are almost as tall as me now.”

            Lugia looked over at Ana and then realized something. She asked Ana, “Ana, can you sense Salazar’s aura anywhere near here?”

            Ana said, “His aura was corrupted, that is for sure. When he fled, I could sense him going to the southeast. That is all I know, however. He is no longer within my range.” Ana shrugged her shoulders as Lugia sighed deeply.

            Cobalion and Suicune returned with Virizion and Terrakion. Cobalion said, “Ok, we have fully taken the palace. We should evacuate it soon because, with Kyurem dead, the ice will all deform soon. At least, that is what I theorize.”

            The assembled Pokémon all fled the palace, taking the liberated civilians with them. After fleeing the palace, the Swords of Justice said that they would stay in the area to mop up the remains of the Glacial Kingdom and see if they could locate where Kyurem had been finding Mega-Stones. The rest of the Pokémon, including Lugia, Suicune, Arya and the rescued civilians began to trek back to the towns on the southern coast of the frontier continent.

            **That was the end of Kyurem. His role in the plot was actually not all that big and he only spoke in one scene, now that I think about it.**


	18. After the Raid

            Three weeks passed after the successful raid on the Glacial Palace before the Swords of Justice managed to return to Semberta Town. When they arrived, they had a decent number of civilians following them. The two Guild teams had, as usual, done a few minor jobs in the vicinity after returning to the coastline. Lugia had not been able to locate Salazar yet. However, she was busy trying to find a way to discern his current whereabouts.

            The two Guild teams had been asked to come to the town square and when they came, Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion were all there along with a couple of civilian Pokémon.

            Once the eight Guild Pokémon arrived in the town square, Cobalion explained, “You all did a commendable job in the battle against Kyurem, so we have found rewards for those of you who can use them. You see… we traveled even farther north after the battle, where we discovered the mine where Kyurem’s last allies in the area were mining Mega-Stones, among other valuable metals. After liberating the miners, we were able to obtain Mega-Stones for those of you who can, or will, be able to use them.”

            The freed miners gave corresponding Mega-Stones to Ana, Cordelia and Zane. Ana looked at bit surprised that she was receiving one, considering her feud with Cobalion and Ned. However, she still took the gift without any verbal complaints.

            Then, one of the miners gave Ned a Mega-Stone. As Ned looked a bit confused, Cobalion explained, “Ned, that is for when you are ready to use it. Take it, it might save your life one day.”

            **At least Cobalion seems supportive of Ned, making Ned’s admiration of him not entirely one-sided.**

            Ned eagerly nodded and took the Blastoise Mega-Stone. Another miner, a Mawile like Sherry, held out an opened box with two small round stones in it, for Diego.

            The Mawile told Diego, “Your final evolution, Charizard, is unique in the sense that it has two possible Mega-forms.” Diego saw that one stone was orange and had a Y shaped pattern on it, while the other was blue-green and had an X shaped pattern on it. Diego felt the Y stone with one claw; it almost seemed to be interacting with his mind. He then felt the other one, the X stone and decided, “I will take the X stone, I think it could come in handy more than the other one.”  

            **I went with Diego using the Mega-Stone that would grant him a temporary type change. I think I also preferred the design of Mega-Charizard X to Mega-Charizard Y.**

            Diego grabbed the X Mega-Stone and then Alfred said, “Aurora, let’s go look for some items for us, now that Diego and Ned have their Mega-Stones.”

            Aurora agreed and mentioned, “We will have to stop by the inn first, I need to get my money. Also, Arya wanted to check in with me. You know she has rented a room on the third floor of the inn.”

            Alfred responded, “I still do not approve of you trying to befriend her, she is a selfish and evil creature. The only reason her survival is a good thing is that her energy does not reach Giratina that way.”

            **Alfred has still not forgiven Arya for the Imperium’s actions, even though she was not directly responsible for what happened to his mother.**

            Aurora shook her head and told Alfred, “You seem to forget that you know at least three former outlaws who have become Guild Members. You know whom I am talking about. Also, you have Arya all wrong. She is much kinder, once you get to know her, than you might expect.”

            **Aurora should know better than Alfred here, since she has actually spending time with Arya.**

            Alfred shook his head violently as Diego and Ned watched the argument unfold. He said, “Arya is not at all like Kyla, Cordelia or even Zane! She was the second in command of a horribly evil state that threatened the whole world. I simply do not think she is worth your time, Aurora!”

            Ana’s team left to go look at the bulletin board and the Swords of Justice left to go find Suicune and Lugia. Diego and Ned also began to leave the square to go to back to the inn as Aurora replied, “We will see about Arya. Either way, she refused to join Salazar and chose to die for her ideals, regardless of how twisted they are.”

            Aurora and Alfred then ended their argument, for the time being, and walked back to the inn.

            Ned and Diego had reached the inn before Alfred and Aurora did. The pair of old friends were back in their inn room, relaxing, when Diego asked Ned, “So, is your whole feud with Ana going to continue?”

            Ned looked over to Diego and responded, “No, to be honest, Cobalion would have beaten her if not for Lugia arriving and shutting the whole thing down. Ana is still misguided, in my opinion, but she is by no means evil.”

            **Diego was probably hoping for an answer like that. Ned has finally wised up to the reality that continuing the feud would be a bad idea.**

            Diego looked back over at Ned and said, a deeply serious tone in his voice, “I am not sure if you are right about Ana. However, I am still glad that your feud is over. Speaking of Lugia, there is something that I must tell you. I am only telling you this to re-affirm our friendship, and because I cannot keep it in any longer …I believe that I am in love with her.”

            Ned literally rolled on the floor laughing as Diego raised an eyebrow at his old friend.

            Ned then got up, while finishing up his laughter and then he looked Diego in the eyes and his jaw dropped, he shouted, “You are serious, aren’t you?… Dude, she is like…. four or more times your size and probably thousands of times your age!”

            **All of that true. In other news, I find it vaguely amusing how Diego and Ned called each other “Dude.” Remember that I have not re-read this story in quite some time, despite having wrote it.**

            Diego gave Ned a glare, he knew his friend had a point, but he did not care, he responded, “Ned, she is the single most beautiful Pokémon I have ever encountered. When we battled Kyurem, I might have tried to protect her from Salazar, even without having feelings for her, as she is still very important. However, I did what I did out of love. I wanted both to save her and to impress her. Before you misjudge my motive, this is not about the recognition that would come with being the mortal consort of a physical goddess, this is about me wanting to be with her!”

            **It is definitely worth mentioning here that I honestly have no memory as to how and why I came up with the idea of Diego falling in love with Lugia.**

            Ned looked taken aback, and possibly grossed out, he said, “Diego, she would never take you as her consort, no matter how grateful she is for helping to save her life. Maybe if you personally killed Salazar …but then again, she would view that as stealing her vengeance.”

            Diego did not back down, he responded, angrily this time, “I would support you if you fell in love, no matter who you fell in love with! Anyway, Salazar definitely needs to die, both for torturing Lugia and for the threat he poses to us all. I will do whatever it takes to help bring him down. Hopefully, I can win Lugia’s heart in the process.”

            Ned sighed deeply and smiled vaguely, “Just like I am crazy for my hero, you are crazy for your love. I will wait and see what happens with you and her. But, be warned, I think the odds of you and her getting and staying together are about one in one thousand.”

            **I am pleased that Ned became self-aware enough to realize how over-the-top his devotion to Cobalion was. Even if that was just for a moment.**

            Diego was then able to calm down and respond, “Well, I think that you and Sir Cobalion are wrong about Ana and those like her. So, you can be wrong about me and my love.”

\---

            Meanwhile, elsewhere in town, Lugia was conversing with Suicune and the Swords of Justice outside of the Sheriff’s office when Aurora and Alfred arrived.

            Aurora, who was wearing her new Special Band, looked up at the assembled Legendary Pokémon and asked, “What are all of you discussing?”

            Lugia looked down at Aurora and saw that Alfred was wearing a device of some sort over one of his eyes. Alfred saw her quizzical look and told Lugia, “This is a Scope Lens, it enhances my chances of critically damaging my targets. I love old human technology, so it was a good choice for me. Also, I am primarily a sniper anyways.”

            **I thought that the Scope Lens item was a perfect fit for Alfred, especially since he cannot Mega-Evolve.**

            Lugia then told the two new arrivals, “We are trying to find a way to locate Salazar, when all we know is that he has fled to the east of here. I hope that he is still on this continent, it will be harder to track him if he has fled the frontier altogether.”

            Alfred then gave Aurora a look and told the Legendaries, “I just wanted to bring to your attention that Arya, who we saved from Kyurem and Salazar, was the second in command of the Imperium. She was once in league with Salazar.”

            **Now Alfred is “pulling a Ned.” The main team in this story was in general more dysfunctional than the first story’s team. However, that hopefully made for some decent drama.**

            Aurora gave Alfred a look that was part disappointment, part rage, part betrayal as Virizion said, “Well, we need to save whoever we can from the worshippers of Giratina. Even if Arya was evil once, she did save your team before, I heard.”

            Cobalion and Terrakion nodded their agreement with Virizion as Lugia looked to Aurora and Alfred and sighed deeply, she said, “I do not claim to forgive Arya for all that she has done. However, I also do not approve of letting Salazar have any more victims. Saving Arya denied him the ability to sacrifice her and we were also able to learn that Salazar is now calling himself a ‘High Priest’ and that he wants to make the world more chaotic. However, maybe I should have a talk with her, just to make sure that she is not up to anything.”

            **It seems like the Swords of Justice are now acting more reasonable and mature, unlike Cobalion’s previous behavior towards Ana.**

            Alfred looked disappointed by the Legendaries lack of anger towards Arya. Of course, Aurora was thoroughly pleased by the ancient Pokémon’s reactions.

            Alfred then sighed and said, “We will help you in any way possible to defeat Salazar and any and all who follow him. I just think that Arya is not redeemable.”

            After Alfred left to go meet with Riko at the Guild office Aurora said, “Thank you all, I really do think that my friend Alfred is wrong and that Arya is redeemable. She is actually quite kind. I think she just had a twisted view of the Imperium’s morality. Lady Lugia, if you talk to her, please do not act too accusatory. Thank you again.”

            Aurora then left to go find Diego and Ned.

            As Aurora was returning to the inn, she ran into Ana’s team. As she was approaching them, she heard Paul exclaiming, “It all makes sense now! His actions in the palace.”

            Ana replied, “Yes it does! Thank Arceus for Aura Sense.”

            The team members then spotted Aurora. Zane said, “Hi Aurora, you know I was just thinking of how nice it is of to be Arya’s friend despite her past.”

            Cordelia then added, “We all think you are being very nice and forgiving with regard to your treatment of her.”

            Aurora could easily see that they being honest, but also were hiding something. She asked them, “Whose actions in the palace explain what?”

            Ana sighed and told Aurora “There is something that you should know. …Since I can sense the emotions of others, I have discerned, almost by accident, that our friend and your teammate Diego is in love with the Lady Lugia.”

            **I guess that his secret is out. It might have been a bit cruel of Ana to tell others that. I guess that she thought her own teammates had a right to know.**

            Aurora’s eyes grew bigger and her jaw dropped, she stammered, “What…he is in love…with Lugia!”

            Paul added, “Yeah, when Ana told us she told us not to tell anyone else, but then you showed up and overheard us. It is kind of a weird mental image, isn’t it?”   

            **That was a bit of self-awareness from yours truly.**

            Aurora was still stunned as Ana asked, “I should not pry, but… Aurora, were you ‘interested’ in Diego?”

            **Why else would she be so floored by that reveal?**

            Aurora simply replied, “Yes” and then crumpled to the ground.

            Ana and her teammates looked at each other and then to Aurora. Cordelia then told everyone present, “This is as probably as good a time as any to say that I am in love with Ana here.”

            Paul responded, “That is a much nicer mental image for me than Diego and Lugia together.”

            **I think that Cordelia might have been trying to change the subject in the only way she could think to. Also, she probably wanted her teammates to know the truth at that point.**

            Ana looked down at Cordelia and mentioned, “Not a very dramatic way to ‘come out’, now was that?”  

            Cordelia replied, “I thought the Diego, Lugia, Aurora thing would give me cover. It looks like the other two did not mind, though. We really should try going out, at least once?”

            **Cordelia has not given up on Ana. She also seems to have picked a good time to come out to the others by her own estimation.**

            Ana then said, “Maybe, but right now let’s get Aurora back to the inn.”

            That evening, Diego and Ned had gone out to dinner with Alfred, who explained to the two friends his dismay that the Legendaries would not condemn Arya. Ana’s team had gone out for dinner as well. Meanwhile, Aurora was having dinner with Arya in the first floor of the inn.

            Arya looked over to her only friend after Sherry served them their food. Aurora had been very quiet that evening, she asked, “Aurora, you are never normally like this. What in the world is wrong with you?”

            Aurora realized that she had to tell Arya the truth and said, “Arya, I just learned that the male I have feelings for is in love with someone else.”

            Arya looked dismayed for Aurora and replied, “Well, what do you plan to do about it?”

            **That was a quick response…**

            Aurora looked back at Arya and stammered, “Uh…. I am not sure what I am going to do. I am surprised that you did not ask me who the target of my affections is.”

            Arya asked, “Ok, who is this boy? Please, Arceus, let it not be Alfred! He clearly hates my guts!”

            **At least Arya is far from oblivious to Alfred’s hatred of her.**

            Aurora laughed and replied, “It’s Diego. And he is in love with the Lady Lugia. Do not tell either of them that I know this! I do not know if Lugia even knows.”

            Arya then looked Aurora in her eyes and quietly and calmly said, “You need to, whenever you feel like it is the best time, tell Diego that you have feelings for him. I was the consort of a Legendary Pokémon, but we had a bond, regardless of what anyone says! Also, we were not hugely different in size. Lugia is miles out of Diego’s league. You are a caring and good Pokémon, Aurora, unlike how many see me. You would make a great romantic partner for anyone who would deserve you! If you tell Diego that you want him and he rejects you, then he does not deserve you in the first place!”

            **I think that the famous trope “Hot Skitty on Wailord Action” was getting indirectly referenced by Paul, Ned, Arya and possibly others.**

            Aurora replied, “I guess I should tell him at some point.”

            They then heard a noise and Aurora turned around, saying “Speak of the…”

            Lugia’s head was leaning through the door to the inn, she said, “I am here to speak with Arya.”

            As Arya said, “I am right here.” to Lugia, Aurora whispered to her, “Do not tell her about Diego and me, or else I will regret saving you.”

            Arya calmly told Aurora, “You have nothing to fear. Why would I want to lose the only one in the world who cares for me now?”

            **Arya and Aurora have become genuinely close. However, Aurora does not want Arya to “spill the beans.”**

            Arya went outside to meet with Lugia. She left Aurora, who was desperately trying to suppress her jealousy, in the tavern.

            **That was, admittedly, another long break from Diego’s viewpoint. Those do appear in this story a reasonable number of times. However, chapters nine and ten are the only time where two entire back-to-back chapters are spent away from Diego. Also, Aurora, as this story’s main female lead, got a reasonable number of sections from her perspective.**


	19. Locating Salazar

\---

            As Arya stepped outside, she was thinking about Aurora’s love triangle. She knew that she did not dare tell Lugia what Aurora had told her. She genuinely did not want to alienate the only Pokémon in town who seemed to legitimately trust her.

            After Arya walked outside, Lugia said, “Arya, I have been informed about your past and I promised someone that we would discuss it. If, after our little conversation, I believe that you do not pose any sort of threat, I will not bother you again. I would like you to follow me to the docks, which should be closed now, so we can have some privacy.”

            Arya simply nodded and followed Lugia through the southern half of town to the docks. After finding an open spot with no observers, but enough space to accommodate both Pokémon, Arya said, “Aurora told me that Alfred had convinced you to talk to me. You know, I saved their team from a wild Bagon. He was the only ungrateful one. Now that I think about it, if I had not saved them, maybe Aurora would not have been around to put in the effort to have me rescued in the nick of time. It seems that kindness can, sometimes, come back to you in a good way.”

            **That line was probably a leftover from Arya’s earlier and more selfish characterization. Many of her lines were modified in the initial edits, if my memory serves.**

            Lugia, who had been patiently listening to Arya, nodded and then added, “You know, I never believed in the adage ‘no good deed goes unpunished.’ I always thought that doing the right thing was its own reward. In your case, I think that your willingness to save Aurora’s team paid off in spades.”

            Arya nodded and then asked, “So, about this talk you wanted to have with me?”

            Lugia replied, “I will make this simple, you probably need to get back to Aurora, anyways. I know that you were a very high-ranking leader in the Imperium. You probably know the suffering I experienced because of your organization. I do not know how much hope there is of you seeing the error of your ways, but I realize that we are on the same side against Salazar and his cult. So, as long as you take no actions adverse to the goals of me and my allies, we should have no problems.”

            Arya nodded and then turned to leave. Before she left, she said, “Just to be clear, you being tortured was not on my orders. You are clearly a better Pokémon than me for not holding as much of a grudge as you have a right to hold. This will sound insane to you, Lugia, but I actually believed and still believe in the concept behind the Imperium. That concept being a unified society for the good of everyone involved. Of course, now that society has shattered. Seeing as though things are the way that they are, though, good luck slaying Salazar…give the prick a hit for me.” Arya smiled after she finished her statement.

            Lugia smiled back at her and said, “We may never agree on whether you all were justified. Maybe we can discuss that more later? For now, I am glad that we have a common foe, have a nice evening, Arya.”

            **At least those two have come to an understanding.**

            Arya was able to return safely to Aurora and tell her that she had not told Lugia about Diego’s feelings for her. Arya still insisted that Aurora should confront Diego eventually and reveal her feelings for him.

\---

            The next day, Diego was eating breakfast with Ned and Aurora. Ned asked, “Aurora, I heard from Sherry that Lugia appeared here last night and spoke with Arya. Why was that?”

            Aurora hated to even hear Lugia’s name, especially around Diego. However, she was able to reply “She needed to make sure that Arya would not threaten her plan to eliminate Salazar. Arya, of course, also wants Salazar gone as well, since he nearly murdered her. She therefore indicated that she would not get in Lugia’s way.”

            **Aurora was more prone to jealousy than I even remembered her being.**

            Diego added, “Great, now all we need to do is find Salazar and see if we can prevent his escape this time.”

            At that point, Alfred entered the inn and noticed Diego, Ned and Aurora at their normal table. Last night, Ana had told him the truth about Diego, Lugia and Aurora. She had done that because Alfred was her closest friend and she had no intention of keeping secrets from him. Also, he had become aware of Cordelia’s feelings for Ana that evening. Today, despite his mix of emotions, he had more important news to bring his teammates.

            **That was admittedly a strange mini-perspective flip.**

            Alfred ran over to the table and said, “Everyone, I have some news. An Archen who claims to be a defector from Salazar’s cult has surrendered himself to the local authorities. We need to go to the Sheriff’s office right now!”

            Diego exclaimed, “Let’s move out then!”

            As Ned and Aurora were moving out, Alfred stopped Diego as the two of them had almost reached the door. Alfred looked Diego in the eyes and said, “I cannot keep this from you, I know heard your feelings for Lugia.”

            Diego’s jaw dropped as Alfred shouted to Ned and Aurora to meet them at the Sheriff’s office. Diego replied, “How, how could you have figured it out! Is it because of what I did in the battle against Kyurem?”

            **That was Diego’s best guess, since he is not familiar with the particulars of Aura Sense and how it works.**

            Alfred sighed deeply and explained, “Ana sensed your feelings through your aura. The two of us are very close, so she could not keep it from me.” Alfred was deliberately not telling Diego about what he had learned regarding Aurora’s feelings for him.

            Diego sighed and said, “Well, Ana was right, I do love the Lady Lugia…. nothing you or anyone else tells me will make me give up on her!”

            **Like Kyla, Diego can become stubbornly determined once he sets his mind to something. One could argue that determination is an important quality for a protagonist to have, so that they aggressively pursue their goals.**

            Alfred face-clawed and then said, “In that case, let’s go to see Takara. There is no point in me wasting our time trying to talk you out of this lunacy. Lugia is a beautiful and amazing Pokémon, it is not wrong of you to admire her. However, she would most likely never fall for someone like you.”

            As Diego and Alfred left the inn, Diego told Alfred, “You never gave up on Ana. You never stopped loving her. And there is a bigger barrier between you two, arguably.”

            **Alfred certainly has strong, but unrequited, feelings of love for Ana. I still feel a bit sorry for him in that regard.**

            The team members met up and then traveled to the Sheriff’s office, together. Once they arrived, they saw Takara, who had also been given a Mega-Stone recently, the Swords of Justice, the other Guild team, Lugia and Suicune.  

            Suicune noticed the new arrivals and said, “There you are. Our new prisoner has some key information for us.”

            The small crowd partially parted to reveal an Archen, who was wearing an inhibitor collar, standing and shaking. Takara’s two Combusken deputies flanked him. Lugia looked down at the Archen and asked him, “Now that everyone who needs to know is here, where is Salazar?”

            The Archen looked up at the huge avian looming over him and stuttered, “I just could not stay. I was told we were going to change the world and become more than we are now. But, then we all had to undergo this ceremony to enter the ‘Inner Circle’ of the High Priest. They said that, after the ceremony, if we fainted our bodies would be consumed and our energy would go to our real master. I fled out of fear and found my way here. I was not followed, for whatever reason.”

            Takara then told the Archen, “That does not answer the Lady’s question, where is the cult and the High Priest now?”

            The Archen then stuttered, “Right… there is a fortress to the northeast of here. It lies within the remains of an ancient human town. The area where it is located is filled with sandstorms and desert terrain.”

            Cobalion said, “I think I know what he is talking about. The remains of a stone village, which was abandoned centuries before the destruction of mankind. There is what remains of an ancient arena in the center of it. Maybe that is where Salazar is based?”

            Lugia then said, “We need to move out within the next two days. It will be hard for me to fly though the sandstorms in that area, but I am definitely coming with any force sent to shut down this cult and put an end to Salazar!”

            Takara then added, “I should come as well. In order to make sure that Semberta Town is safe, Salazar needs to be brought down for good.”

            Cobalion then pointed out, “We will not have time to assemble an army of our own this time. We will probably only bring our five Legendary Pokémon, the eight Guild Pokémon and Sheriff Takara. Therefore, there will only be fourteen of us. Tomorrow, we will begin preparation for the attack. Let’s just hope that we get there in time and slay Salazar. I want Giratina to lose his High Priest!”

            **Cobalion was not afraid to publicly restate his beliefs about Giratina at every available opportunity.**

            Lugia announced, “We will leave the day after tomorrow at the latest. Everyone, go get packed and ready for this assault!”

            The two Guild teams set off back into the town to prepare for their next major mission and then rested the night.

            The next morning, Diego and his teammates were in the Guild office. Alfred was telling Riko, “So, Riko, once again you will mon this office while we are off taking care of the cult worshipping Giratina.”

            **Alfred also seemed to share Cobalion’s beliefs in that regard.**

            Riko nodded and grinned as he said, “Yes sir, Mr. Alfred.”

            Alfred gave Riko a glare and then turned to his teammates and told them, “We should go to find the other team soon and then see if the new expedition is ready to move out.”

            **Another “Mr. Alfred” gag. I am keeping a rough running tally of them at this point.**

            As the team was about to depart, Suicune came running through the door. She shouted, “All of you, to Takara’s office! We have a problem!”

            Diego hoped that Lugia was safe as he and his team rushed out the door, after Suicune.

            When they arrived at the office they saw Lugia and the other team, as well as Takara and her two deputies.

            Takara walked over to Diego’s team and told them, “Cobalion and his Pokémon left us this note.”

            She then handed it over to Alfred who read aloud, “To the good Pokémon of Semberta Town and the Ladies Lugia and Suicune… As the Knight Commander of the Swords of Justice, I have decided to take my small squad and go try to eliminate Salazar ourselves. I do not want any of you to be in any more danger from that fiend. The fight against Kyurem was our fight in the first place and I see this as a continuation of that righteous fight. We will hopefully return victorious with the false ‘High Priest’s’ reign of terror brought to its end. Thank you for your support against Kyurem and his minion in the past. Yours, Sir Cobalion.”

            **Cobalion’s full title, “Knight Commander,” now gets mentioned. Now that I think about it, he also was referred to simply as “Sir.” Maybe he went by the “Knight Commander Sir Cobalion?” as his full title. …I bet that Ned probably knows for sure.**

            Diego then mentioned, “I would like to hear how he wrote that without arms, or anything similar.”

            **He has probably had centuries to practice…**

            Lugia looked down at her allies and declared, “Everyone, we cannot allow Cobalion and his team to go and face Salazar and his cult alone! They will most likely be heavily outnumbered. Also, I am worried that Salazar let the Archen defector get away so that we would learn his location. This whole thing could be a trap, which we would need our full strength to face! We are leaving for the ancient stone village in about an hour!”

            Takara told her deputies, “You two, ‘hold down the fort’ here in town. I will be going with Lugia, Suicune and the Guild members.”

            The two Combusken saluted their boss and then went inside of the office. Then, Suicune said, “The journey should take us only a couple of days if we hurry.”

            The two Guild teams scattered in order to get fully packed before heading out on their journey. That day at noon, they met with Takara, Suicune and Lugia at Semberta Town’s east gate to begin their march to the ancient desert village.


	20. The Clash with the Cult

            It had been over a day since they had left Semberta town. The small expedition, consisting of Lugia, who was providing air cover, Suicune, Takara and the eight Guild members, had been easily able to fight off some wild Pokémon attacks during their advance into the desert. Later on, after braving what seemed like an area under the perpetual effect of a sandstorm, they reached the other side and were in sight of the ruins. The arena within the ruins was where Salazar was supposedly hiding, along with the remains of his cult. The eleven Pokémon had been unable to locate the three Swords of Justice, who had departed before them without significant warning.

            As they all approached the ruins in the mid-morning, two days after they had left Semberta Town, Lugia shouted down to her allies, “I see someone behind a rock formation…. I think its Terrakion!”

            As Lugia swooped down to investigate, her ten allies followed her on foot. They found that it was indeed Terrakion, who was just starting to wake up.”

            As the expedition approached Terrakion, Diego asked him, “What happened to you? Where are your two comrades?”

            Terrakion looked over at the newly arrived expedition and said, “You all came out here anyway, despite being told not to? I should have known that you would. Well, it is good that you all have, actually.”

            Ned then asked, “What about Diego’s questions? Where are the other two Swords of Justice?”

            Terrakion then rapidly shook his head and exclaimed, “Yes, of course! We were traveling through the sandstorm-covered area near here when a swarm of Pokémon of varying species attacked us. The attack caught us by surprise and Cobalion seemed to be their main target. Before he fainted, he told Virizion and I to retreat to Semberta Town and get help. We hated to retreat, but our Knight Commander had given us both direct orders. However, as we tried to flee, they managed to drop Virizion as well. I ended up going the wrong way in all of the confusion, and the sandstorm of course. I have been waiting here all night. I was planning on attacking the ruins today, even though it would be essentially suicide.  However, with all of you here, we can now try and rescue Cobalion and Virizion!”

            **Cobalion, like his enemy Garchomp before him, has made a serious tactical error. Characters in fiction do not always do the smart thing… especially if doing something stupid furthers the plot.**

            Ned was frozen with shock at the idea that Cobalion was not really invincible. As the Guild Pokémon tried to snap him out of it, Suicune said, mainly to Lugia, “How much do you want to bet that they are to be sacrificed to Giratina. Or that they already have been.”

            **That was morbid of Suicune, but probably an accurate guess in this situation.**

            Lugia nodded and ordered, “Everyone, we are going to invade the ruins! We will go straight for the arena at the center and see if Salazar is there. We cannot waste any time when two of our allies’ lives are at stake. Move out!”

            The twelve Pokémon marched into the ruins, where they easily disposed of a few cultist lookouts before they could retreat back to the arena. All of the lookout’s bodies were consumed by the familiar black light after they fainted.

            **Unlike most of Kyurem’s army, Salazar’s cultists are fully corrupted and ready to become willing sacrifices.**

            The eleven land-based Pokémon rushed through the arena’s maze of pillars as they heard an odd chanting. When they reached the center of the arena, they saw Two altars. One had Cobalion chained to it, the other had Virizion chained to it. Lugia flew into the arena and saw that Salazar was floating over Cobalion. He was also the source of the chanting.

            A pair of Luxray flanked Salazar, while an Archeops provided air cover. A group of eight Maractus stood as a front line in front of the stronger cultists.

            Salazar stopped chanting as the expeditionary force arrived. Cobalion shouted up at him, “You are not going to get away with this. Giratina will fail!”

            Salazar whispered into Cobalion’s ear, “I am counting on that, actually.” He then raised his black and red knife and thrust it into the deeply surprised Cobalion’s throat. Ned screamed in shock and even Ana looked horrified as Cobalion’s body was consumed by the familiar black light.

            **That was what an unwilling sacrifice looks like. Also, it looks like Cobalion might have been wrong about his main theory?**

            A triumphant Salazar shouted to his enemies, “The unwilling sacrifice of a Legendary Pokémon has just taken place! I have completed my purpose for my master. Now, all of you, we shall fight to the death here. I have no need to flee this time!”

            **Legendary Pokémon are very powerful and it seems that unwilling sacrifices drain more energy than living ones do… Salazar must have just greatly empowered his master.**

            Lugia just glared at him and swooped down, saying, “Assuming you mean that, you will not leave this place alive!”

            Suicune and Paul fired Water-Type attacks at the Archeops, forcing him to target them. Terrakion and Takara, who rapidly Mega-Evolved each took on a Luxray. As the Guild teams prepared to fight the Maractus, Lugia shouted down, “Diego, you and your team break through and help me end Salazar. Also, make sure that he cannot sacrifice Virizion!” As that was happening, the ground began to shake and a black and red fissure, sparkling with rainbow colored energy, began to open on the far side of the arena, close to the ground.

            **Yeah, that sacrifice must have done something big…**

            Virizion was still in a state of complete shock over seeing her mate sacrificed. Diego snapped into action, wanting to help his love. He launched an Ember into one of the Maractus, dropping the foe in one shot. He then ran past the others to go help Lugia.

            Alfred eliminated another Maractus with his Icy Wind, while a well-aimed Bite from Ned and a Dragon Rage from Aurora dropped another. All four members of Diego’s team rushed through the gap they had created to try and reach the altars. At the same time, Ana, Cordelia and Zane all Mega-Evolved and began to do battle with the five remaining Maractus.

            Salazar floated over closer to the altar that Virizion was chained to. On the way over, he fired a Dragon Breath into Lugia. This time she was not paralyzed and she retaliated by closing in on him and shooting her old enemy with an Aeroblast, shouting, “This one is for Arya!” As the skirmish raged around them, Diego and his team reached the altar on which Virizion was chained. Aurora detonated another Twister under Salazar and Diego jumped up on top of Virizion to protect her.

            **It looks like Lugia did give Salazar a hit for Arya after all.**

            Ned Fired a Water Gun into the nearby Archeops, helping Paul and Suicune in their fight. Alfred was able to snipe Salazar with an Icy Wind attack, slowing him down.

            Salazar blasted the whole area, including Virizion, with a Dragon Pulse. The move injured Aurora heavily. Lugia shouted, “You all focus on him! I will help you as best as I can.”

            **I imagined Dragon Pulse as a burst around the user in this series. I feel like it sort of looked like that in the PMD games, even if it only hit one target.**

            Ned used Water Gun, Diego used Ember, aurora used Twister and Alfred used Icy Wind. All of the attacks collided with Salazar and he looked badly weakened. Lugia then blasted him all the way to the ground with a second Aeroblast, shouting, “This one is for me!”

            **Appropriate…**

            Suicune finished the Archeops with an Aurora Beam headshot and Paul used Confusion to finish off a Maractus. Terrakion and Takara were having an easy time of defeating the two Luxray. The three Mega-Evolved Guild Pokémon were wiping out the last four Maractus on their side of the battlefield.

            Salazar looked over at how his minions were losing and then looked up at Lugia, he then said, “At this point…I have done my part! Goodbye, you waste of a world!”

            Salazar gripped his knife and launched himself at Virizion’s throat. Lugia, determined to both destroy Salazar and save Virizion, delivered a final Aeroblast to her nemesis’s main head before he could sacrifice Virizion. Salazar collapsed and his body, as well as his knife, were consumed by the usual black light.

            **That was obviously no ordinary knife.**

            Lugia breathed a massive sigh of relief, saying, “That last one was for anyone else he murdered, or even harmed.” The last of Salazar’s cultists in the were arena fainted soon after that. Like their High Priest, they were consumed by the black light. Ned and Diego unlocked Virizion’s chains and Takara helped her off of the altar. The four Mega-Evolved Pokémon all returned to their normal forms after that.

            Alfred said, “Ok, we lost Cobalion, but Salazar is dead and his cult has been obliterated. At least the cell here has been completely destroyed. Now, what is that strange fissure in the air?”

            Alfred carefully approached the fissure, as Aurora shouted, “Maybe that is not such a good idea!”

            **Alfred is the curious type, like his father before him.**

            As Alfred continued to cautiously approach the fissure, Ned and Diego both began to glow. Ned evolved from Wartortle to Blastoise and Diego evolved from Charmeleon to Charizard.

            **Finally they can use their Mega-Stones!**

            As Ned felt his Mega-Stone bursting with energy and ready for use, he mentioned, “I do not think that this victory was worth Sir Cobalion being killed. The world has lost a great hero today.”

            Diego flapped his wings and exclaimed, “Now this is more like it! Alfred, you should get back over here and… Alfred…”

            Aurora shouted, “That fissure is getting bigger! Everyone stay back, we will retrieve Alfred. We are his teammates after all.”

            As Alfred asked, “I wonder what Salazar meant when he said that he had completed his mission for his master?” Diego flew towards him and Ned and Aurora ran and slithered towards him. The other Pokémon backed up and watched in horror. As the four teammates were all almost to the fissure, an unseen force rapidly sucked them in. Lugia took off and flew at the fissure, wanting to try and retrieve her allies. However, it then closed before she, or any of the other Pokémon for that matter, could reach it.

            **I assume that the Big Bad of this story opened that fissure as both a side effect of being empowered and as a way to try and trap some of the heroes if they got too close. Once they had secured some of their prey, they closed the fissure. They did not want to risk getting a powerful Pokémon like Lugia too close to them that early.**


	21. Giratina

            When Diego began to wake up, he still felt drowsy and a bit nauseous. He looked around the spot where he was laying on the ground and saw that, thankfully, his teammates were still with him. They were also just beginning to recover from being sucked through the fissure in reality.

            Diego then realized that the ground below them was an odd, reddish color. There were no plants in sight and the sky was purple. As Diego tried to get up and get a better look around, he heard Aurora shout, “What are those things?”

            The, still recovering, team was being surrounded by a large number of entities. They were all pitch black, with streaks of red and the occasional crackle of rainbow energy. None of them even remotely resembled any Pokémon that any of the team members had encountered. The entities seemed almost formless. However, as they neared the staggered team, they began to make noises that vaguely resembled screams of anger and each of their bodies took on a sharp point at the end. The points seemed ready to impale the Guild Pokémon, when an unfamiliar voice shouted, “There they are!”

            **This has gotten very strange very quickly…**

            On top of a nearby hill, a male Gengar, who was holding a Mega-Stone, stood at the head of a group of Pokémon consisting of Gastly, Haunter, Litwick and Lampent.

            The entities turned their attention to the new arrivals, who charged them without delay. The Gengar Mega-Evolved and led the charge. The team members watched as the Ghost Type Pokémon dispatched the shadowy creatures. The shadowy creatures seemed more easily defeated than normal Pokémon, falling after taking only one or two attacks. When they were defeated, their bodies glowed with a white light and then vanished. One of the shadowy creatures was able to impale a weakened Haunter, which caused his body to be consumed in the same way that the team had previously seen.

            The shadowy creatures did not flee, even with most of their number killed, and they fought until the last one of them was killed. They showed absolutely no signs of fear or hesitation in battle against the Ghost-Type force.

            **I wonder what those beings could be? Obviously, I know the answer because I wrote this story and made them up.**

            After the shadowy creatures were all dispatched the Gengar’s Mega-Evolution wore off. He then walked up to the team members, whose heads were finally clearing up as they all got off of the ground. The Gengar said, “We have not gotten visitors here in years. You are lucky that my patrol found you all before those creatures could dispose of you. If you want to survive, you should follow us back to our leader’s fortress. You will not last long if another mob of those things shows up here.”

            Diego nodded and said, “Thank you for the help, but where are we? Also, who are you?”

            Diego’s teammates also seemed highly interested in learning the answers to Diego’s questions. The Gengar responded, “My name is Oscar, and our leader can answer your questions when we present you to him. I assure you that we are looking out for your safety. You should definitely follow us back to the fortress. You all will not last long or have any hope of getting back to, the material world, your home world, without us.” 

            **I guess that the team really does not have a choice in this case.**  

            Ned then agreed, “Ok, we will follow you. But, your leader needs to explain what is going on and where we are.”

            Oscar agreed and the four Guild members followed the patrol across the alien landscape, Alfred mentioned to his teammates that he had never even heard of this place before and that it seemed totally unlike the world they knew. As Diego kept walking, he noticed that even though there was light in the landscape, there was no particular source of it. Also, the sky had no clouds in it or any other noticeable features.

            **This part of my setting is obviously based on the Distortion World from Sinnoh/Generation IV.**

            The team could not figure out how much time it took them to reach a massive building made of purple stone. The team was then taken to the massive outer wall, which had a gate in the center of it. The wall seemed to be made of a strange material that even Ghost-Type Pokémon could not naturally pass through. A pair of Chandelure, who seemed to be elite guards, made sure that the gate was opened. Once the patrol and the team had passed through the gate, it was quickly closed behind them.

            The patrol Pokémon returned to a series of barracks, except for Oscar, who said, “I will now, as I promised, present you to my leader.”

            The team followed Oscar into the massive, ancient looking structure. They passed through a secondary gate in order to enter the main building. Inside of the main building, the hallways were massive. They were large enough to accommodate a creature many times a normal Pokémon’s size. It was not long before they reached the main hall. Floating over an elongated, throne–like stone construct was a gigantic, vaguely insect like Pokémon. He had a grey and red body with shadowy black tendrils and grey and yellow spikes sticking out of it. The tendrils seemed to end in red tips. The gargantuan Pokémon’s body was protected yellow armor, which covered his mouth.

            Oscar looked up at his leader and said, “My Lord, these four Pokémon arrived mysteriously in our domain. We think that they might have been sent here for the purpose of being trapped and killed by our enemy. Maybe they can be of use to us and vice-versa?”

            **I assume that most readers will recognize who this leader really is before his name is revealed.**

            The floating Pokémon hovered up above his throne and then floated over to just in front of it. He then said, in a deep, but calm voice, “Who are all of you?”

            Diego stepped forward, nervously, and said, “Sir…we are a team in the service of the Pokémon Adventurers Guild. We were part of an effort to defeat a cult leader named Salazar. But, before he was slain, he sacrificed a Legendary Pokémon named Cobalion and the fissure in reality that brought us here opened.”

            Oscar’s leader looked down and said, “Sacrificed Cobalion, that is not good. The sacrifice of an unwilling Legendary Pokémon is what they wanted all along. Now things will only get worse!”

            Ned then stepped forward and exclaimed, “Yes sir, the cultists sacrificed Cobalion to Giratina!”

            Oscar looked stunned and confused as his leader raised an ‘eyebrow’ at Ned and respond, “No, they did not sacrifice him to Giratina.”

            Ned looked confused and said, “How would you know that?”

            The floating Pokémon then calmly responded, “Because…I am Giratina. There has never been a single sacrifice made to me. I have never requested one be made.”

            **I honestly wonder how many readers saw that plot twist coming in advance. Giratina was a red herring after all.**

            Ned was horrified and stepped back, “You…you are Giratina! You are the Father of Evil! …The one who rebelled against the deity Arceus!”     

            Giratina simply laughed and responded, “Oh, I am surprised to hear that the ‘Father of Evil’ myth is still around. Maybe it was unwise of me to have agreed to let it be spread around.”

            **Cobalion sadly died still mostly ignorant of the truth.**

            Aurora looked over at Ned and then at Giratina and said, “Even though I am not at all happy that he is dead, I should have known that Cobalion was full of crap!” 

            Alfred then asked, “So, Lord Giratina…one question remains. If you are not really the one who the sacrifices are being made to, then who is the recipient of the sacrificed Pokémon’s energy?”

            **Alfred seems quite willing to change his own views when presented with evidence.**

            Giratina sighed and said, as Ned was having a quiet emotional meltdown, “The one who the cult is dedicated to, the one who has been receiving the sacrifices’ energy is not a Pokémon. In fact, they predate the existence of Pokémon.”

            Diego had never heard of an intelligent entity that was neither human or Pokémon. As he was contemplating that, Alfred asked, “If Arceus was indeed the first Pokémon to exist, then who is older than him?”

            Giratina responded, “I think I need to tell you four a story. Then after that we will see about making a deal that will get you all home.”

            **Time to reveal this story’s actual Big Bad.**

            As Ned was still frozen in shock, Diego shook him back into reality saying, “We need to figure out who the real villain here is, Ned. That way we can warn the others when we return home!”

            Ned somewhat recovered and said, “Ok, but Giratina needs to explain to us why he is NOT the Father of Evil. I just cannot believe that Sir Cobalion could have been wrong!”

            Alfred then said, “Lord Giratina, please tell us your story. Who is this enemy who is trying to kill Pokémon to empower themselves?”

            Giratina began, “Millions of years ago, what would become the domain of Arceus was occupied by an ancient god we called the Primal Chaos. The Primal Chaos, as their name indicates, is the ancient incarnation of disorder. They existed, alone, in their own dimension for thousands of years. Then, one fateful ‘day’ whatever ‘powers that be’ that exist in the multiverse created Arceus to be a balancing force on the Primal Chaos. Arceus began planning to create their own world, but the Primal Chaos did not want Arceus creating a world with fixed laws of physics in their domain. So, the two gods battled it out, until Arceus appeared to retreat. Arceus went far away from the Primal Chaos and then created three children. The three demigods, myself, Dialga and Palkia were created by Arceus to help win the divine war. The existence of Dialga brought stability to time and the existence of Palkia brought stability to space. Together, the four of us engaged the Primal Chaos and we thought we were able to slay the mad god.”

            Ned then shouted, “This is all very interesting, but what about you being declared the father of evil by Arceus?”

            **Ned seems unsatisfied. Yeah, I know that he can be an asshole sometimes. I wrote him, after all.**

            Giratina responded, “I was getting to that… anyway, as Arceus began to craft the world and create the other Legendary Pokémon, it was decided that the existence of the Primal Chaos was to be covered up. In order to ‘explain’ the idea of a divine war to the later creations of Arceus, I was willing to have the legend of me as the ‘Father of Evil’ who rebelled against Arceus to be spread to the Legendary Pokémon. Some of the Legendary Pokémon then passed it down to the early mortals.”

            **Even gods can make tactical errors it seems.**

            Aurora then asked, “Well, that explains one thing. Still, where are we now?”

            Giratina then explained, “We are in a place called the ‘Outer World,’ which acts as a barrier of sorts between the world where Pokémon live and the other dimensions of existence. I was ordered to rule the outer world by Arceus. They also wanted my subjects and I to be the first line of defense against any possible attack from an entirely separate dimension. However, it turns out that we are now the first line of defense in a different conflict. For, you see, the Primal Chaos survived the divine war and has been rebuilding their strength for eons now. They have taken the name Anarchos and intend to destroy all that Arceus has created!”

            **And now, after 20 chapters, the true main villain’s plan is finally revealed to the protagonists. Anarchos was my take on the sort of Eldritch Abomination style villains that the two 3DS era PMD games used as their main antagonists. More on their origin will be mentioned in later commentary.**

            Diego then asked, “If that is who the Pokémon had been being sacrificed to, and is who the cultists served, then why doesn’t Arceus see the threat their old foe poses and just lead another attack to kill this ‘Anarchos’ once and for all?”

            Giratina sighed and explained, “Thousands of years ago, Arceus left their creation to me and the other two demigods. They wanted to explore the vast multiverse and possibly set up more worlds for Pokémon to live on. The multiverse is so vast that Arceus has a near infinite number of places to explore. I have no clue when they will return. I still have yet to locate Dialga and Palkia in the outer world and convince them to help me fight Anarchos without Arceus.”

            **I was originally considering Arceus to be sleeping and needing to be awoken by the heroes. However, I ended up deciding that having them exploring the infinite multiverse would be a better idea.**

            Alfred asked, “So, Anarchos is the one behind all of this and Arceus is not around to help fight them this time. How can we help?”

            Giratina responded, “I am going to find a way to send you back to your world so that you can spread the word and help fight the Chaos Shards, the things you saw Oscar’s patrol battle before. The Chaos Shards will likely soon appear in your world. I do not know how Anarchos plans to destroy the material world. However, I know that you all can help me before you return home in another major way.”

            Diego, who wanted to return home, but also realized the necessity of helping Giratina, asked, “What would that be?”

            Giratina awkwardly said, “I need you all to go fight another Legendary Pokémon for me.” 

            The team members looked up at Giratina, mouths agape. Then, Aurora asked, “Who?”

            Giratina simply responded, “His name is Yveltal.”

            Aurora felt a strong chill down her spine. She knew exactly who that was.

            **The team will soon have to go fight against death himself…**


	22. The Winged God of Death

Diego, Ned and Alfred looked over to their teammate, Aurora, who had completely frozen at the mention of the name Yveltal. Aurora did her best to regain her composure and then looked up at Giratina, who was floating above them. She then asked him, “How strong do you think we are? Yveltal is supposed to be death incarnate! How could we survive against him? Assuming that we could even find him!”

            Giratina gave Aurora what the team assumed was a surprised look and then said, “Well, I am surprised that you even know who Yveltal is. Yes, he is the incarnation of death, you are correct about that. You see…. Yveltal watches over the realm of the dead and judges the souls of those who have passed on. I have been trying to convince him to lend some of his guardians to help fight off the Chaos Shards that encroach on my domain. However, he says he will only listen to orders personally given by Arceus.”

            **It seems like Yveltal suffers from the same sort of stubbornness many other characters in my stories suffer/benefit from.**

            Diego then interjected, “How would us somehow defeating this Pokémon in combat help you gain the aid of his followers?”

            Alfred then chimed in, “Is Yveltal one of those Legendary Pokémon who will only serve one who defeats him? I have heard of other Legendary Pokémon following that kind of code.”

            **That seems to be standard procedure for many Legendary Pokémon, both in the PMD games and in these stories.**

            Giratina nodded and responded, “My servants are forbidden to enter the gate to the kingdom of the dead without Yveltal’s permission. I am also incapable of passing the barrier to the place where Yveltal rules without him allowing it. However, if you can infiltrate the land of the dead and defeat its king in combat, then you can earn his service. He will finally be forced to lend reinforcements to help fight the Chaos Shards.”

            Ned then asked, “Why doesn’t this Yveltal help anyway? If this ‘Anarchos’ is really what you say they are, then he must see the logic in helping to stop them.”

            Giratina groaned a bit and then responded, “Yveltal does not want to help fight Anarchos because he thinks that the mortal world is not his problem. Also, he believes that if the world is destroyed then all of the Pokémon’s souls will fall under his control anyway.”

            Alfred then thought for a moment and then exclaimed, “But, if the world is destroyed, then his supply of new souls runs out! I wonder if he realizes that?”

            **Yveltal was being both selfish and short sighted. I guess that the team will need to beat those feelings out of him?**

            Giratina then sternly said, “It does not matter, we need his help to stop Anarchos. Oscar and his squad can lead you all to Yveltal’s domain. Once there, you will just need to follow the path straight to him. DO NOT veer to either side, left or right. Even I do not know what would happen if an unauthorized living Pokémon entered the afterlife. If you can defeat Yveltal, then I will get you all home somehow.”

            **I do know what would happen either, to be honest.**

            Diego then said, “Well, team, we need to return to the mortal world to warn everyone about this Anarchos. I think we need to go and do battle with Yveltal. It would make a pretty great story if we knocked out death himself, after all.” 

            **Diego’s desire for glory is subjugated to his desire to stop Anarchos here. Still, that would be a pretty cool story…**

            Aurora then added, “If Diego is going then I guess I will go to. We will complete this mission, just like all of our other missions!”

            Alfred said, “I guess it’s time we fought another Legendary Pokémon, after Kyurem. Come to think of it, I think that it might be fascinating to see even a very small part of where the souls of the dead exist.”

            **Always curious that one…**

            Ned looked at his team and finished, “I guess I should go to if all of you are going. We need to make it back alive. We all have friends and family back in the mortal world we need to see again!”

            Giratina smiled down at the team and then said, “Oscar, get them a place to rest. Once they are ready, escort them to the pillars that mark the entrance to the kingdom of the dead.”

            Oscar saluted Giratina and said, “Of course, my lord.”

            The team was given what felt like at least eight hours in which to rest. Then, they followed Oscar’s squad out of the fortress and onto the open plains of the outer world.

            The team had no way to keep track of how much time it took the procession to reach its destination, but they made it with no incidents. The reddish ground and the purple sky seemed to abruptly end. Haze and fog filled all that was past a certain line. There were two ancient pillars flanking what looked like the beginning of a walkway through the fog.

            Oscar told the team, “We have arrived. This is the gateway to the afterlife. There is no ancient agreement banning mortals from the material world from entering that place. Mainly because Yveltal never thought they could arrive here without dying first. Just follow the path straight ahead and do not, under any circumstances get off of it until you reach Yveltal!”

            **I think that Yveltal was not making an error there. How would he know about the possibility of a dimensional fissure?**

            Diego then nodded to Oscar and said, “Thank you for getting us this far. With any luck, we will emerge having defeated Yveltal!”

            As Oscar and his squad saluted the team, Diego walked between the pair of pillars and into the realm of the dead. His three teammates followed in close behind him as he marched down the, relatively narrow, path forward.

            Diego and Ned were in the front of the team as they continued to march down the path through the impenetrable fog. Aurora and Alfred brought up the rear of the group. For an indeterminate amount of time, the team saw no one as they continued their march. Eventually, Ned spoke up to say, “You know, if this is the place where the souls of the dead come, then would the soul of Sir Cobalion be here?”

            Aurora replied, “Maybe, Ned. However, we are not supposed to leave the path. We need to find Yveltal and defeat him. That way, we can get back to Giratina and then back home.”

            At that point, as Ned was reluctantly nodding his understanding, Diego squinted his eyes, looking forward and said, “Everyone, I see a lot of creatures flying this way. I have never seen anything like them!”

            Alfred looked out in front of Diego and then shouted, “Unown! I thought they were extinct or just a myth! Then again, considering where we are…”

            **That explains why we have not seen any of them in the material world so far.**

            Aurora shouted, “They are swarming directly towards us! Get ready!”

            The horde of Unown rushed at the team, once a few of them were in range, they began to form a series of spheres of pink energy around their letter-shaped bodies and then fired them at the team members. The Hidden Power attacks collided with the team Pokémon who “returned fire” soon after. Ned used his new water cannons to blast a large number of the Unown with a Water Pulse. Then, Aurora followed up with a Twister move, which knocked out a large number of the weakened Unown.

            Diego wished he knew Heat Wave or Inferno. Making due with what he had, he blasted an Unown with his new Flamethrower move. Alfred’s Icy Wind then dropped the same Unown.

            The hostile Unown kept coming, launching Hidden Power shots at the team. The blasts seemed to have no damaging effect on Alfred, presumably because they were acting as Psychic Type attacks. However, they were wearing down Diego and Ned. Aurora was mostly safe behind the front line.

            Ned and Aurora used another Water Pulse and Twister combo to eliminate most of the remaining swarm. Then, Diego and Alfred each rushed an Unown. Each used Slash on his target. This dropped the two enemies.

            Only three Unown remained at this point. They fired off their Hidden Power attacks at Aurora, who dodged one and withstood the two that hit her. Then, they turned to flee, seeing that they were outnumbered. 

            Aurora and Ned used one more Water Pulse and Twister combo, which caught two of the fleeing Unown and knocked them out.

            Alfred chased down the fleeing final Unown and sliced into it with a Slash. Then, Diego flew forward and used an Ember to finish off the target.

            Alfred then said, “Well, that is one group of Yveltal’s guardians gone. Assuming those things even worked for him in the first place that is.”

            Diego then landed and added, “We should keep moving. With any luck, it will not be long now until we reach Yveltal.”

            **They really have no way of knowing. You know, this sequence reminds me of a Greek myth. The heroes in those stories often visited Hades, it was normally not a pleasant experience.**

            The team continued on, down the path, for what felt like another few hours, until they reached another set of pillars. A pair of Dusclops guarded that set of pillars. The path seemed to open up into a larger area after the pillars. As the team neared the two Dusclops, the two ghostly Pokémon pressed their hands forward and then began conjuring Shadow Balls.

            The team began to charge forward as the two Dusclops fired off their attacks. Ned and Aurora each took a hit from the energy spheres.

            Ned then Used Hydro Pump on one of the Dusclops and Diego followed up with a Flamethrower on the same target. Alfred targeted the injured Dusclops with his Icy wind, further weakening the foe. Aurora then approached the second Dusclops, closing in on him to make it harder for him to use another Shadow Ball.

            The uninjured Dusclops then backed up and cast a Shadow Sneak into Aurora. The weakened one then rushed at Ned and missed him with Night Shade.

            Ned then used Bite on the first Dusclops, finishing him. Aurora used an Aqua Tail on her foe, while Alfred and Diego sniped him with Icy Wind and Flamethrower respectively.

            **These elite guards were very experienced, but they were outnumbered here.**

            The last Dusclops stood his ground and fired a Shadow Ball into Diego, who just barely failed to evade it while in the air. Ned then once again used a Bite to faint the foe.

            As the four teammates began to catch their breath, Alfred said, “If Yveltal is not far from here, then we will need a plan. I suggest you all trying to keep him off of me while I use Icy Wind to snipe him from a distance.”

            Diego said, “That actually sounds good. Also, we should not even consider holding back when we fight him. We are facing a Legendary Pokémon alone this time.”

            **All good points…**

            The four teammates took some time to rest and then they, mustering up as much bravery as they could, walked between the pillars. They found themselves in an oval-shaped chamber with the same fog they had seen for hours surrounding it. There was a huge throne that was intricately colored in red and black on the opposite side of the chamber. A massive avian Pokémon rose up from the throne and flew up and forward, towards the team. Yveltal looked down at the intruders, looked them over briefly and then calmly said, “It has been uncountable eons since living mortals entered my kingdom…”

            Diego stepped up and then interrupted, “So, you must be Yveltal, then.”

            **He can be very brave when he needs to be…**

            The great avian chuckled and responded, “Of course I am. I rule over those who have passed on from the mortal realm. Whoever you are, you should not have come here. I could use a few mortal slaves. Do not worry too much, though. Once you have been worked to death, you will find your rest here and be judged like any other souls.”

            **Yveltal has grown arrogant in his millennia of isolation from all but the souls of the dead and his own servants.**

            Aurora stammered, “I do not think he would listen to any proposals we would make.”

            As Aurora was finishing her sentence, Yveltal summoned a purple portal on the ground and flew down into it. Alfred shouted, “We need to prepare ourselves for when he re-appears. Split up and prepare your strongest moves!”

            Alfred and Diego ran to the right side of the chamber, while Ned and Aurora rushed to the left side of the chamber. Yveltal then erupted from another portal and struck Diego with his Phantom Force attack.

            **I guess he did not like Diego interrupting him earlier.**  

            The entire team reacted to the attack by blasting Yveltal with their respective attacks. Diego gripped his Mega-Stone and thought, “Now is as good a time as any!” He then felt power rush through him as he Mega-Evolved and used a point-blank Flamethrower on Yveltal.

            Ned saw Diego Mega-Evolve and then followed suit, he then used the massive water cannon now present on his back to blast Yveltal with a Hydro Pump. Alfred then fired his Icy Wind into Yveltal. That shot Dealt severe injury to the airborne Pokémon. Aurora then detonated a Twister underneath Yveltal, but that blast seemed to not have a serious effect on him.

            Yveltal then groaned from injury and flew back up and away from the team, towards the top of his chamber. He then targeted Alfred and shouted, “Now you will see how hard it really is to battle against me!” Yveltal fired a massive beam of red light, using Oblivion Wing. The beam struck Alfred dead on and severely weakened him. Some on Alfred’s life energy was then absorbed into Yveltal, healing him.

            **Yveltal might be fighting alone, but he is still a demigod. This mission was always going to be quite risky.**

            Alfred looked weak and shouted, “We should probably not let him do that again.”

            Diego, Ned and Alfred then blasted Yveltal with their respective primary ranged attacks. Yveltal looked severely injured despite having drained Alfred’s life earlier. Aurora then fired a Twister up into the air, but Yveltal was able to evade most of it once again.

            Yveltal looked down at his foes and shouted, “I see, it looks like I will have to eliminate all of you at once!” The King of the Dead then dramatically swooped down and hit then entire team with a Dark Pulse, which emanated out from his body. Alfred fainted from the attack, while the pulse only injured Ned and Aurora. Diego was injured and then flinched from the blast of negative energy.

            **“Negative Energy,” that was a strange way of describing the Dark Pulse’s effect.**

            Aurora then rushed at Yveltal and used Slam on him, careening into the Legendary avian. She then shouted, “Ned, finish him off!”

            Ned aimed his primary water cannon at Yveltal’s head and then fired a Hydro Pump, which hit him right between the eyes. Yveltal finally fainted from his injuries.

            **That was a bit of “redemption” for Ned. I know that he can a nuisance with regard to anything relating to the Swords of Justice.**

            Diego recovered from flinching and exclaimed to Ned, “Great work, buddy! We actually defeated death himself!”

            As Aurora went over to Alfred to feed him a Reviver Seed, Ned said, “Giratina better get us back home for this… I think we have company.”

            Groups of Ghost Type Pokémon were floating near the edges of the chamber. They seemed afraid to move any closer, however. As Alfred woke up, Diego said, “Let’s keep our eyes open and not let any of them get any closer. Now, we just have to wait for Yveltal here to wake up.”

            And so, the team did just that, they waited for Yveltal to wake up.

            **Death is now unconscious. I hope that someone else in his service can handle soul judging for a short bit on his behalf.**


	23. Return to the Land of the Living

The swarm of ghostly Pokémon continued to hover around the edges of Yveltal’s Throne Chamber. The four teammates eyed the new arrivals carefully. Alfred eventually, after what felt like a few hours, said, “I think that these Pokémon are more living servants of Yveltal. This place is their home, and he is their king.”                                                                     

            Aurora then replied, “Well, I doubt we could fight all of them off at once. I think we should be thanking Arceus that they are not mobbing us now.”

            **That is actually quite a relief.**

            Then, Yveltal’s body began to shift as the ancient beast began to stir. It was not long until he rose onto his talons and surveyed the team. Yveltal looked greatly bitter, but not exactly enraged. He then slowly began, “Pride can cause the downfall of even the strongest of us, can’t it?”

            The team’s Pokémon, including Diego and Ned, who had returned to their normal forms hours ago, looked up at Yveltal and waited for him to continue.

            Yveltal then explained, “I had not seen personal combat in ages. I believed that I could send minimal guards after you and then finish you off personally. I held back my forces when I could have most likely stopped you with them. Your victory is still your victory, however. Now, why are you here?”

            **At least he was willing to explain his tactical error. This story has actually had quite a few of those. Mostly the antagonists experience them, but Cobalion also made one. He was an antagonist to Ana at least.**

            Diego stepped forward and told the King of the Dead, “Giratina sent us here to make you send some of your forces to fight off the Chaos Shards! Now that we have defeated you, you owe us your service!”

            Yveltal breathed out a mighty sigh and responded, “I don’t know how Giratina obtained your service, but his plan seems to have paid off. I will send some of my guards to help his followers against Anarchos. I guess Arceus would not want me to let their oldest enemy destroy all they created, anyway.” Yveltal chuckled at the end of his statement. 

            **He at least knows when he has been defeated.**

            Ned then said, “Alright, we will be going now. Remember what you owe us! Also, did you see the soul of a unique Pokémon named Sir Cobalion here recently?”

            **Ned still calls his hero “Sir Cobalion” even posthumously.**

            As Ned’s teammates made for the exit, Yveltal said, “Yes. But, that is all that I will say on that matter. I cannot reveal how I judge the dead.”

            The team was allowed to leave the Land of the Dead in peace. Ned’s spirits seemed to have been raised by the idea that Cobalion’s soul had made it to the afterlife. Alfred mentioned that that probably meant that the sacrificed Pokémon still reached their intended afterlife in some way, even though their bodies were consumed and their energy sent to Anarchos. Oscar and his squad had been patiently waiting for the team to return and they seemed greatly relieved to see the team marching out from between the pillars to rejoin with them.

            **Thankfully, a sacrifice victim’s soul is not absorbed by Anarchos when they die. That might not be true of the willing sacrifices who served Anarchos, however.**

            Oscar asked, “How did it go? You all have returned to us, seemingly safely.”

            Alfred then told Oscar, “We managed to defeat Yveltal. He made the tactical error of underestimating us. He did not send out nearly as many of his guards as he could have.”

            **Not sure if Oscar needed to hear all of those details. I wonder if I got his name from the actor Oscar Isaac? It has been too long for me to remember that for sure.**

            Oscar smiled and then responded, “Well, hopefully the King of the Dead is true to his word and we start seeing some of those guards on our side. We will escort you back to Lord Giratina now.”

            The team followed Oscar and his squad all the way back to the ancient fortress where Giratina was, indeed, waiting for them. The ancient Legendary Pokémon floated above the team and said, “Oscar reported in to me. Apparently, you were successful in your mission. Yveltal has been defeated and will send us the reinforcements that we need. Now, I need to send you all back to the mortal world.”

            Alfred asked Giratina, “How exactly do you plan on doing that?”

            Giratina responded, “There is actually a spot in this fortress where I have discovered that there is an especially thin planar barrier between the worlds. I think that if I can focus my own power there, then I can create a short-lived stable portal. That should be able to transport you all back to your own world. I will try and aim it to send you out where you all came in.”

            Ned said, “Well, that is actually not the best place for you to put the portal, but it is close enough. We should be going as soon as possible.”

            As Giratina led the four teammates deeper into his fortress, he mentioned to them, “You must warn as many Pokémon as possible about Anarchos when you return to the material world. Chaos Shards, and possibly other cultists who worship Anarchos, will be trying to slay more Pokémon in order to build up their master’s power level as high as possible.”

            Aurora nodded and replied, “You can most certainly count on us. We will also try to convince our allies that you were not really the one behind the cult.”

            Diego, thinking of seeing Lugia again, said, “I just cannot wait to return to Semberta Town. I assume that our allies have been very worried about us, if they have not given us up for dead already.”

            **I had forgotten about that. Diego made a good point there.**

            The procession soon reached a huge room with a large circular depression on the floor. Giratina floated up into the air and then his entire body began to glow brightly he shouted, “I hope that this works! I have never tried to use this room before!”

            A rift in reality began to open where the depression was. It grew and grew until it covered the whole of the depression. Then, it finally stabilized. The team peered into the rift and they saw that it led into the desert arena where they had been sucked into the portal before.

            Ned shouted, “Here we go!” He jumped in first. Diego saluted Giratina before following his friend through the rift. Alfred and Aurora followed their teammates and then Giratina, still straining himself, shouted, “Have someone watch this spot in your world. I might need to open another portal here in the future. I will try to find Dialga and Palkia and convince them to help fight Anarchos. However, we might need far more assistance to slay them for good.”

            **Anarchos has no gender as a being of pure chaos. That is why they are referred to as “they.” Arceus also has no gender, or even gender identification, unlike my interpretations of most other Legendary Pokémon.**

            The four team members nodded in understanding after they were successfully through the rift. Then, Giratina closed the rift and the team was left standing in the desert arena.

            Diego said, “It is good to be back in the material world. Now, let’s return to Semberta Town. We all have friends to see and warn!”

            The team spent the next two days marching back to Semberta Town. As they started to walk through the farmland to the north of town, they were all greatly relieved to see no Chaos Shards in the vicinity. Also, they saw that the area seemed peaceful. There was no sign of new preparedness for conflict visible as they neared Semberta Town proper.

            As they were closing in on the north gate to the town they saw Lugia in the air, she appeared to be flying back toward the town. As soon as she saw the team, she carefully descended and gracefully landed in front of them. She looked both immensely pleased, and confused as she asked, “You all are back? What happened? The last we saw of all of you, you were being dragged into that portal! How could you have gotten back here?”

            Aurora replied, “It is a story we would be more than happy to tell. First, we should return to the Guild office.”

            Alfred then added, “Lady Lugia, if you suspect that we are imposters, then you can have Ana scan our auras. She should know exactly who we all are, especially me!”

            **Alfred thankfully knew that would work to dispel the notion that the team could be enemies in disguise from Lugia’s mind.**

            Lugia seemed somewhat relieved after hearing Alfred’s offer. She then said, “Alright then, I will take you to the Guild office.”

            Even though he tried not to show it, Diego was immensely pleased and relieved to see Lugia again. As the team followed her back into Semberta Town, he realized something important. He then asked Lugia, “My Lady, how long has it been since we went through the portal?”

            Lugia replied, “Only a few days, actually. The expedition returned from the ancient ruins to Semberta Town. Riko was informed of what had happened, he has been very worried. After we all returned to town, the surviving two Swords of Justice went off to try and avenge Cobalion’s death on any other cultists they could find in the area. Virizion and Terrakion have not yet returned.”

            Ned then said, “We need to meet with as many local officials as we can, after we reconnect with the other local Guild team. We have learned something which changes everything!”

            Aurora then chimed in, “To put it simply, Lady Lugia, your killing Salazar did not end our problems. By the way, where is Arya?”

            Lugia replied, as they neared the Guild office, “She is still at the inn. She was immensely worried by the news that you were among the missing, Aurora.”

            **That should come as no surprise. Arya has no real emotional connection to the other team members and Alfred despises her.**

            Aurora nodded as the door to the Guild office flew open. Lugia and Diego’s team saw Ana, Cordelia, Paul, Zane and Riko running out of the building and towards them.

            Ana shouted, “I told you all that I sensed them nearby!” With Cordelia close behind her, Ana ran up to Alfred and the two of them embraced.  Zane and Paul watched as Riko said, “Mr. Alfred! It is so good to see you, and your team, alive!”

            Lugia then mentioned, “Well, if Ana is reading the four of you the same way she did before, then you should be the same Pokémon. It’s great to have you all back! I still want to know what you all saw and how you got back, however.”

            Diego looked up at Lugia and told her, “We will explain all of that soon. We should probably have Sherriff Takara and Mayor Elias here for that.”

            Alfred then walked over to Riko and told him, “Yes, but before that, I need a Pellipper courier to send a message to the Guild’s Headquarters in Megapolis. Please get on that as soon as possible!”

            Riko looked a bit confused, but he saluted Alfred and said, “Yes Sir!”

            **Alfred wanted to waste no time. He knows what is coming.**  

            Alfred and Riko headed inside the Guild office with Ana’s team in tow. Diego said, “The three of us should head for the inn. Lady Lugia, would you try to find the Mayor and the Sherriff so that we can have our meeting with them as soon as possible.”

            Lugia nodded and replied, “I hope that they would want to know what your team experienced, wherever you were.”

            Diego, Ned and Aurora then returned to their inn. When they walked into the door, they saw a very surprised looking Sherry behind the bar. She asked them, “So, you all are back? Last I heard… you were being sucked into some other dimension? Also, two of you have evolved!”

            Ned then responded, “It is a long story, Sherry. Let’s just say that we are glad to be back, for now.”

            Aurora slithered upstairs to go find Arya while Diego and Ned sat down at the bar. Diego knew that his team would have to tell the local Pokémon the truth about Giratina and Anarchos, but his mind was mostly focused on Lugia. He knew that he could not keep his feelings for her in the dark forever.

            That evening, there was a meeting on the first floor of the Semberta Town Hall. The two Guild teams, Riko, Arya, Elias, Takara, her deputies, Suicune and Lugia, who had maneuvered her head through a window, were all in attendance. Elias, being the Mayor, called the meeting to order, saying, “Alright, I believe that everyone invited is here. Now, we have set up this emergency meeting because one of our local Guild teams claims they have important news for all of us. I will allow them to take the floor now.”

            **Thankfully the locals trusted their second Guild team enough to give them access to the full local population for this meeting.**

            Diego and his three teammates moved to the center of the floor. Aurora decided to begin things, she dramatically said, “Everyone, I know that this may be hard to believe, but the late Sir Cobalion was wrong about the Legendary Pokémon Giratina! He is not the ‘Father or Evil!’ Giratina allowed that myth to be spread in days long past so that Pokémon would not know the truth about the Arceus’s real most ancient enemy!”

            The entire room had fallen silent after Aurora proclaimed Giratina’s innocence. Takara looked the most skeptical while Ana and her teammates did not seem very surprised by the notion that Cobalion had been incorrect. Elias then asked, “So, who is the real one behind that cult? Who is this most ancient enemy of Arceus?”

            Alfred then stepped forward to say, “We met Giratina face to face. His followers saved our lives from a group of beings who serve the real master of the cult. The one that Salazar’s cult worshipped is not even a Pokémon! They predate the existence of our kind entirely!”

            **I know that this is going over the same exposition twice. I guess that I thought that this sequence was important enough to detail more fully when I wrote this story.**

            Diego then took over to say, “Apparently, before there was Arceus, there was a being called the Primal Chaos. That being, also known as Anarchos, was supposedly killed by the combined might of Arceus, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. However, Anarchos has survived and is now approaching their original power level. Giratina informed us that Anarchos wants only to destroy all that Arceus has created and is sacrificing Pokémon to take their energy so that their power can grow.”

            Ned then finished, “Giratina is going to try to find Dialga and Palkia and get their help to stop Anarchos. He told us that he might need our help in the future and that we should post someone to watch the place where the first portal appeared. Giratina was able to send us back to that spot safely. Otherwise, we would not be here today.”

            At that point, Takara asked, “So, what do you expect us to do about this so called ‘Anarchos?’ Why doesn’t Arceus just fight this entity again?”

            Diego responded, “We were told that Arceus is off exploring the multiverse beyond our dimension. Giratina has no idea when they will return, if ever. Also, we need to prepare ourselves and as many other settlements as possible because the sacrifice of Cobalion has granted Anarchos enough power to soon begin summoning extensions of themself called ‘Chaos Shards’ into this world. We need to have this settlement ready for when these Chaos shards arrive!”

            **Yes, I know that themself is not really a word.**

            Ana them nervously mentioned, “You all should know that I sense no dishonesty in any of their auras. I think that they are telling the truth.”

            Alfred smiled at Ana and then said, “I have already sent a Pellipper courier off to Megapolis, on my authority as the head of this town’s Guild office. Hopefully, my father receives the message and starts preparing the Guild, and its allies, for the coming onslaught.”

            Aurora then added, “If we can stop the Chaos shards from slaying Pokémon, then we can prevent Anarchos from absorbing their energy.”

            Takara then interrupted, “When our expedition killed Salazar, we did manage to capture some encoded documents from his cult. If we can decode them, then maybe we can figure out if the team is speaking the truth. I think that if they met Giratina, he might have told them an elaborate lie and had them spread it here to benefit his plans in the long term.”

            **Takara has suddenly become the counter-productive one.**

            Aurora looked deeply annoyed, she said, “If you must do that, then hurry! We need to begin preparing for the arrival of the Chaos Shards.”

            Takara sighed, “Fine then, I will get as many resources on that as possible. If you are right, then we will spread word of this Anarchos down the coast and prepare the town for another battle. If you are wrong, then you will need to accept that Giratina tricked you.”

            Ned then admitted, “We did see some Chaos Shards ourselves. However, I will admit that Giratina did send us on a dangerous, but ultimately successful mission to fight Yveltal…”

            Lugia and Suicune looked at each other and then both shouted, “Yveltal?”

            Alfred answered, “Yes we managed to knock him out so as to force him to send help to aid in the battle with the Chaos Shards. He made the ‘fatal’ blunder of not sending his full forces against us.”

            **I think that the use of word fatal there was a pun on Yveltal being the setting’s god of death.**

            Lugia responded, “Takara, get to work decoding those documents as soon as you can! If Suicune and I can help get someone with more code-breaking expertise here, then we will assist with that.”

            Takara nodded as Elias said, “I have to agree with the Sheriff’s plan. We will decode Salazar’s encoded documents as soon as possible. Hopefully, they will give us the answers that we require. This meeting is dismissed!”

            The various Pokémon returned to where they were staying, or living. Lugia went with Takara while Suicune, who had faced Yveltal before, could not help but look at Diego’s team in awe.

            **At least she did not have to actually fight him.**

            The next morning, Diego and Ned headed downstairs where they found Aurora and Arya waiting at their normal table.


	24. The Night of the Confession

            Diego and Ned sat down at their inn table with Aurora and Arya. Aurora told the two old friends, “I must admit that I am very frustrated by Sheriff Takara’s lack of belief in us. I just hope that those documents hold proof that Salazar was serving Anarchos and that they are decoded soon…very soon.”

            Arya then added, “Well, I believe you all. The way that I see it, Takara got close to Cobalion and his team when they worked together to defend this town. She did not see what your team saw and therefore, she feels more likely to trust what he said than what you all are now saying.”

            Ned then pointed out, “For now, we stay here and hope that the courier Alfred sent, on his own authority, reaches the Guild HQ in Megapolis soon. Maybe if some Chaos Shards do begin to appear in the area, then we will be proven right and the town will spring back into action.”

            Diego thought for a brief moment and then said, “I believe that part of Takara’s reluctance to accept what we told her, was that she knows how dangerous and destructive conflict can be and would rather Semberta Town be free of serious threats now that Salazar is dead. I do not think that the Pokémon of this region will want to keep fighting unless they have to. Of course, considering what Anarchos wants, we will need to keep fighting for the time being.”

            **That was good insight considering Takara’s position and desire to have the death of Salazar be the end of the conflict.**

            After everyone nodded his or her agreement to Diego’s statement, Ned said, “I think that we should be on the lookout for a new job in the area soon. Maybe tomorrow we should do that? I will go check on Alfred and see what he thinks about that after our breakfast is finished.”

            The three Guild Pokémon and Arya all ate their breakfasts and then Ned went to talk to Alfred. Diego stayed in the inn, while Arya and Aurora went out to walk/slither around the town.

            When Ned returned from speaking with Alfred, Diego met with him in their inn room. Ned told Diego, “Alfred is willing to go out and get some more jobs done while the documents are being decoded. Apparently, Suicune has run off to find and bring back an expert on decoding from a nearby town.”

            Diego then looked his oldest friend in the eyes and slowly told him, “Ned, I have decided that tonight I have to tell Lugia that I love her. I know that it seems like a major ‘long-shot’ that we could be together. But, I have to try!”

            Ned sighed deeply and responded, “Well, buddy, if that is what you want to do. Then... good luck to you. I think that you will need it, to be honest. Still, I do not want to damage our long-lasting friendship by trying to stop you.”

            **At least they will not end up fighting again.**

            Diego smiled faintly at Ned and said, “Thank you. That means a lot to me. This evening, I will find her and I will tell her the truth!”

            That evening, the moon was full. Diego had just eaten his dinner with Ned and had then stepped outside the inn. He thought, “It is such a beautiful night out tonight. It really makes me feel better about what I know I must do.”

            At that point, Arya and Aurora passed by on their way back to the inn from dinner out. Aurora asked Diego, “What are you doing out here? Are you just watching the full moon?”

            Diego smiled vaguely at Aurora and told her, “Tonight, I have something I have to do, something I have to tell someone….”

            Arya looked over to Aurora and then rapidly walked inside. Aurora was fully aware of what was going on. She knew that he was going to tell Lugia of his feelings for her. Aurora took a deep breath and said, “Diego, I actually know what you mean. Ana sensed something in your aura a while ago and I learned the truth from her team. I think that Ana also told Alfred. The point is that I know that you have feelings for Lugia.”

            Diego was shocked, he thought, “How could I have discounted the possibility of Alfred having told Aurora what Ana had sensed?”

            Diego then did his best to regain his composure and say, “Aurora, you are right. I do want to be with Lugia and this is the night when I tell her that I love her.”

            Aurora sighed and continued, “Diego, please do not do this! She is a Legendary Pokémon! Even if you may have saved her life from Salazar before, she will never love you in a romantic way. Even if she does not want to hurt you, she will break your heart. Spare yourself the trouble and the heartache and do not tell her! Besides, at the absolute best, it would be an unequal relationship. You would never be a true, permanent, partner for her because you are only a mortal.”

            **Aurora was still hiding her other reason for wanting to stop Diego. Her listed points still sound logical, I will say that.**

            Diego looked taken aback, he then stammered, “Aurora, you really are not being helpful. I understand what you are saying, and I am sure that you must have the best intentions here, but I need to let her know the truth, one way or another! Goodbye.”

            **However, Diego did not seem to care.**

            Diego, wanting to get away from Aurora quickly, launched himself off of the ground using his wings. He then flew over Semberta Town until he saw Lugia standing near the docks. She appeared to be alone. Diego flew down and landed out of her sight. He then walked past a number of shipping crates until he reached her.

            Lugia seemed to notice Diego there and she smiled vaguely, she then said, “You know, I had been pursuing Salazar for at least five years. When I finally ended him, I thought that chapter of my life was over. But now, there is this idea of ‘Anarchos,’ an entity that hates all Pokémon, yet they can corrupt some of our kind in to becoming their servants. If Anarchos exists, then we need to destroy them for good. Only then, will Salazar have not gotten the ‘last laugh.’ …You know, I am still very appreciative that you rushed to help me when I was paralyzed by Salazar’s attack. Also, I do think that your team is not lying. At worst, you were deceived. However, I still doubt that.”

            **If Anarchos wins, then Salazar still wins, despite being dead.**

            Diego could not help but smile as he responded; “It was a pleasure and an honor to protect you from Salazar. It is also excellent to have your support in this current matter.”

            Lugia looked down at Diego and added, “It seems like you came here to see me. What do you want or need? It is awfully late tonight.”

            Diego took a very deep breath and then said, “My Lady, I actually came here for a very specific reason. There is something that I must personally tell you.”

            Lugia looked down at Diego, slightly confused, as he did his best to kneel to the ground. Diego then slowly, his voice filled with extreme passion and conviction, said, “Lady Lugia, you are the most extraordinary and beautiful Pokémon that I have ever encountered. I wish nothing more than to loyally serve you as your consort. I love you with all of my heart and would put myself into any danger on your behalf. If you would have me, then I would devote my whole life to you in exchange for your love.”

            **He is not the same Pokémon he once was, looking out mainly for his own personal success. He got quite lovesick. I wonder what that is like? Also, a Charizard kneeling is a slightly funny mental image to me.**

            Lugia then looked down at Diego, who was still kneeling, she tried to suppress a minor blush. She then, surprisingly calmly, began, “That explains some of your previous actions in my presence. You seem to have become quite smitten with me. Frankly, I am flattered. If a mortal has fallen for me before, they have never had the courage to admit it. As for your proposal… it is actually not unheard of for a Legendary Pokémon to take on a mortal consort during the mortal’s lifetime. Some Legendary Pokémon might have taken multiple even. Before we proceed any further on this matter, I must ask if you really intend to leave your team in order to serve me?”

            **It looks like she has not rejected him out of hand. I wonder how many readers that surprised?**

            Diego stood up to look Lugia in the eyes and said, “While I would want to stay in contact with my friend Ned I would be willing to leave Guild duty to be with you. The only other matter that I would absolutely need to resolve would be finding better living accommodations for my parents then they currently have back in my home village, which is to the south across the ocean. However, dealing with Anarchos takes priority over that for now.”

            **At least Diego would never forget his parents. They have actually not been mentioned for quite some time now.**

            Lugia nodded and then continued, “Fortunately for you, I am not going to dismiss your offer entirely out of hand. You have fought bravely for the Guild and you clearly have a strong devotion to me on a personal level. I also assume that if you have told others of your affections, they might have doubted or even mocked you. However, I will not simply take you automatically, there would need to be a test of some sort for you to pass. You would need to agree beforehand that if you passed the test, you would become my consort and accept all of that role’s duties. On the other hand, if you failed the test, you would agree to cease your pursuance of your goal entirely.”

            **Originally Lugia was meant to be a false romantic lead for Diego. She would reject him and then he would end up with Aurora. However, that plan changed close to the last moment.**

            Diego mentally kicked himself for not realizing that Lugia would create some sort of test. However, he was determined to win her heart. He responded, “My Lady, what test would you ask me to take on?”

            Lugia smiled awkwardly and replied, “Well, I am not sure exactly what kind of test it should be yet. Sometimes, the Legendary Pokémon non-lethally duels their potential consort as a test. However, I do not think that that would be fair to you if we were to fight one on one. You obviously need to have a fair chance of passing the test. Perhaps, a duel with a weaker, but still formidable, opponent would work?”

            **I also considered having Diego duel Lugia for the chance to become her consort. However, I dropped that idea. I don’t remember who was supposed to win that duel. I assume Lugia was to win and then Diego would have to give up on courting her.**

            Diego looked Lugia in the eyes and said, “I have told you how I feel about you, my Lady. If defeating a champion of your choice is the way to win a place by your side, then that is what I will endeavor to do!”

            Lugia declared, “It is agreed then. I will seek out a Non-Legendary Pokémon to duel you who will provide a suitable challenge. If you defeat him/her or it, then you will become my consort, as you desire.”

            Diego knelt, smiling, and said, “I accept the challenge, Lady Lugia! Thank you from the bottom of all my heart for giving me this chance!”

            As Diego was about to fly off to find Ned, Lugia told him, smiling, “Diego, if you succeed and become my consort, you will not have to be so formal with me all of the time.”

            **Clearly Lugia actually had some interest in Diego as well. Otherwise, she would have just rejected his offer, even if she let him down softly so to speak.**

            Diego nodded and then flew off. He knew that he would have to consider how he would treat his allies who previously thought he had no shot with Lugia now. 

\---

            Aurora and Arya were sitting at their normal table in the inn’s tavern that same night. Arya told Aurora, “You know, maybe you should have admitted your feeling for him. Maybe that would have at least given him a bit of pause.”

            Aurora sighed and replied, “I know, Arya. Now he will likely have his heart broken or worse, she will say yes to a relationship with him!”

            Arya then said, “Aurora, it is possible that he will never love you, even if Lugia rejects him. You might want to start looking for another possible romantic companion, if that is still in your interest.”

            Aurora thought for a moment and then said, “You know, that might make sense! I mean, other than the way he went fan boy crazy over Sir Cobalion, which led to the incident with Ana, Ned is actually a decent guy. Paul, I have not talked to that much, but he has lived here his whole life at least. Both of them are Guild members who I could possibly settle down with long term and, thinking way ahead, have kids with biologically.”

            **As much as I like Aurora, she is a little weird when it comes to romance-related issues.**

            Arya smiled and said, “That’s the spirit. While I will probably never find love again, you have not found it yet. You need to try and find a guy with realistic expectations who will appreciate the kind, caring and gorgeous Pokémon you are. I might be overstressing those qualities of yours because you are my only current friend…but, trust me, I do not hand out such high praise easily.”

            **I guess that she does not. I will to take her word for it.**

            Aurora blushed and said, “I think that when Lugia does break Diego’s heart. I might give him one last chance and tell him the truth. If he does not realize what we could be, then I will look elsewhere. Thank you, Arya. You are really a very good friend. Let’s head up to bed now.”

            **Little does she know what has transpired.**   

            Arya and Aurora shared a ‘hug’ and then headed upstairs to get some sleep.


	25. A Duel Between Teammates

            The next morning, Diego and Ned were at the bar of the Semberta Town inn’s tavern. Diego had just told Ned about his encounter with Lugia the night before. Ned’s response was to say, “Well, I am frankly impressed that she was even willing to entertain the notion of taking you as her consort. You must have really impressed her before. However, the question now is who will she pick to fight you for your test?”

**Ned is taking being wrong pretty well.**

            Diego responded, “All I know is that it will be a normal Pokémon. No Legendaries allowed for the test. Whoever it is, I will do my best to fight them, defeat them and win Lugia’s heart. I just hope that she picks someone quickly, so that I can pass the test and take my place at her side!”

            Ned sighed and said, “Even if it means you leaving the team, I still wish you the best of luck. I know that you will find a way to take care of your parents and serve Lady Lugia at the same time. I just hope that Terrakion and Virizion return soon. I want to reconnect with them.”

            **Ned has not had a chance to really talk with them about the loss of Cobalion yet.**

            Diego gave Ned a hug and then said, “Thank you, old friend. Let’s spend some time together today, before our team heads out on any more missions.”

\---

            Over at the Guild office, Alfred was addressing Riko, Aurora and Ana’s team. He said, “We have received word that Suicune has returned today with a codes expert from nearby. This means that it should only be a week at most until we learn what Salazar’s documents said. Hopefully I will get a letter from Megapolis in that time, as well. That might take longer, however.”

            Cordelia looked up at Ana and said, “You know, we should take this time to give dating a try?”

            Ana sighed and smiled and replied, “You will not give up on that, will you, Cordelia?”

            Cordelia smiled back at Ana and said, “No ma’am!”

            Ana then half-reluctantly said, “Well, in that case, let’s go out for dinner tonight. If only to get it out of your system.”

            Ana winked at the end of her sentence and Alfred sighed deeply. Zane and Paul seemed pleased and Aurora tried to look happy, but could not help but think about Diego.

            Cordelia embraced Ana and then there was a loud knock on the front door of the Guild office. Riko shouted, “Come in!”

            The door opened and the Guild Pokémon saw Lugia stretching her head though the door. She then said, “Hello everyone, I do not know if this will surprise any of you, but your associate/teammate Diego is seeking to become my consort.”

            **Lugia seemed to realize that the other Guild Pokémon might have already figured that out. Maybe she also thought of Ana’s Aura Sense?**

            Aurora was frozen by a mix of emotions as Ana replied, “We are aware, actually, Lady Lugia. I take it that he finally told you himself?”

            Lugia nodded and continued, “You see, I have decided to test him to see if he is worthy of the prestigious position. In order to do so, we have agreed that he is to non-lethally duel a strong Non-Legendary Pokémon whom I choose. I have come here to speak with you to hear if any of you have any suggestions as to who the champion, who Diego will fight one-on-one, should be.”

            None of the Guild members seemed to have any suggestions until Aurora spoke to say, “I will do it. If you will allow me.”

            Everyone in the room looked over at Aurora and Ana asked, “Why do you want to fight Diego, exactly…?” Aurora glared at Ana, who could sense the feeling in her aura. Ana shut her mouth quickly after that.

            **Ana decided to not spill the beans this time.**

            Lugia then said, “I need someone to fight Diego and you should be of equivalent strength, Aurora. I am not sure why you want to fight him? However, you can be the champion, if you wish.”

            Aurora nodded and then said, “I need to go inform my friend Arya of this.”

            As Lugia withdrew her head from the doorway and Aurora left, Lugia said, “We will hold the duel tomorrow at noon, if possible.”

            After Aurora and Lugia had left, Ana said, “Do not spread this around, but I think that Aurora wants to fight Diego to stop him from becoming Lady Lugia’s consort. That way, Aurora thinks she will have a chance at having him for herself!”

            **Ana spilled the beans in the end after all. However, she is at least asking the others to not tell even more Pokémon this time.**

            Alfred sighed and replied, “You know, I was hoping that she wanted to keep him in the Guild. In the end, though, you are probably right.”

            **One of my friends who read this story said that Ned should have been the champion instead of Aurora because of a desire to stop Diego from leaving their Guild team. However, I had already chosen to have Aurora be the champion and to have Ned support Diego at that point. Besides, the story had already been posted when he read it.  
**

            Cordelia simply said, “Well, I have a date with Ana to prepare for now.”

            Zane added, “This fight will certainly be interesting, regardless of who wins!”

            As the group of Guild members began to disperse, Paul said, to no one in particular, “I just wonder how Diego will react to seeing Aurora as his opponent for the duel? I do not like where this is going.”

            **Good point, Paul.**

\---

            The rest of that day, Aurora and Arya avoided Diego and Ned. Lugia was able to inform Diego that she had picked a champion and that the duel would commence the next day at noon. Diego was frankly impressed by the speed in which Lugia had been able to pick someone for him to duel.

            The next day, the Town Square of Semberta Town had been cleared out for the big event. A large crowd of locals had gathered on all sides to see the duel occur. With Ned right behind him, Diego stepped into the large, circular space where he was to duel his foe. Lugia, accompanied by Suicune, spoke to the gathered crowd, “Everyone! Our friend Diego here has requested the great honor of being my consort. This is an honor that no mortal Pokémon has ever held before. I have agreed to take him as my consort… but only if he can defeat the one who has come forward to challenge him as my champion.”

            The crowd roared as Diego awaited the champion’s appearance. He saw Alfred, Ana and her team, Arya, Takara, her deputies, Sherry and Elias all in the crowd. He then realized who was missing and his mind began to race.

            Lugia then shouted, “Now, let us welcome the champion who will duel Diego!”

            **Even Lugia can get hammy at times.**

            Aurora slithered out from behind where Alfred was standing. As the crowd cheered, Diego shouted at her, “Seriously, you were so determined that Lugia would break my heart that you decided to make sure that it would happen yourself when she did not do it for you?”

            Aurora shouted back, almost in tears, “You cannot live in a fantasy, Diego! I will do whatever I can to break that fantasy. Even if I have to beat it out of you!”

            **Ouch! And I thought she liked him?**

            Lugia shouted down at the circling teammates, “Begin!”

            Aurora and Diego each rushed at each other Diego took his Mega-Stone and Mega-Evolved. He then hacked into Aurora with his Slash move, screaming, “Some friend you are!” 

            Diego had correctly anticipated Aurora’s attack plan. She used Aqua Tail, which only somewhat harmed him now.

            Diego then struck Aurora with another Slash, this one to the face. She recoiled back. Arya winced, seeing her friend grievously injured. Aurora said, “I really do not want to hurt you, but I cannot let you do this!” She then slithered back quickly and used a Twister on Diego, who partially dodged the blast of draconic wind.

            Diego then sniped Aurora with a Flamethrower attack. She resisted some of the damage, but looked weakened.

            Aurora then slithered up and then discharged a Thunder Wave. It coalesced around Diego, but he shrugged it off. He shouted, “You cannot beat love! Sorry, Aurora!” 

            Aurora then took another Flamethrower and felt herself fading. She screamed as she blasted Diego with a Twister. This time, he felt the full fury of his foe’s move.

            Both fighters were nearly down. Diego realized that either of them was unlikely to withstand one more serious hit of any kind. He shouted at Aurora, “You will fail, you will not have stopped my plan and you will have wrecked our friendship in the process. Honestly, what do you have to say for yourself?” Diego then began to glow as he charged at Aurora with his own Dragon Rage.

            Aurora looked Diego in the eyes and replied, “I did this because I wanted you for myself. Call it selfish, maybe it was.”

            **I think that was one the better-written lines in the story. I was very proud of that fight scene when I first wrote it.**

            Diego was surprised, but it was too late for him to stop flying right into Aurora. Arya closed her eyes, unable to watch, as Diego collided with Aurora and knocked her out with a mighty strike.

            **I certainly planned to have Aurora win at first, until almost the last moment to be exact. However, I realized that there was no way that Diego and Aurora would end up together if Aurora had stopped Diego from reaching his goal. Therefore, I decided that, seeing as though protagonists achieving their goals is a major part of most stories, that Diego would win the duel.**

            Ned shouted, trying to be supportive of his friend, “Diego has beaten Lady Lugia’s champion! He has won the duel!”

            Diego sighed as he looked down at the unconscious body of Aurora. He then looked up at Lugia and bowed to her.

            Lugia smiled awkwardly, and then declared, “A promise is a promise. Diego, you have beaten my champion in a hard-won victory. You have earned your place at my side. We will be staying in Semberta Town for the time being, though. So, for now, you should still consider yourself an active duty member of the Pokémon Adventurers Guild.”

            **That removes the issue of Diego leaving his team for the time being.**

            Diego and Ned shared an embrace, as Alfred picked up Aurora’s body, with Arya next to him, he said, “I know how this feels, Ana and Cordelia apparently had a wonderful night last night.”

            **Poor Alfred, I mean that sincerely.**

            As the crowd dispersed, Suicune told Diego, “You are probably going to have to talk to that girl, Aurora.”

            Diego sighed and said, “Yes Ma’am, I am fully aware.”

\---

            That evening Aurora, who had been revived by Alfred, was sitting with Arya at their usual table. Arya told Aurora, “You at least tried, Aurora. You fought your hardest and you lost. I certainly know how that feels.”

            **Arya was on the losing side of a major war once, after all.**

            Aurora then admitted, “Honestly, I do not think that I should have fought him at all. I felt desperate and I wanted to stop him, but I was not successful. I feel terrible. I was actually being very selfish. I think you were truly right before. I need to look for someone else if I want to find happiness.”

            At that point, the door of the inn opened and Arya said, “Speak of the…” Diego and Ned walked into the room and were cheered on by some of the patrons, who had seen the fight. The various members of Ana’s team were all out at the time. Paul was with his family. Zane was trying to help decode the documents taken from the cult. Lastly, Ana and Cordelia were on their second date.

            Ned went up to the bar to talk with Sherry as Diego, as calmly as he could, walked up to Aurora and Arya. He said, trying to sound as unemotional as possible, “Aurora, we need to talk. After what happened today, what you said and what I said, we need to clear the air.”

            **That was mature of him. Suicune was as wise as ever.**

            Aurora looked up at Diego and replied, “Yes, let’s go to my room and hash this out as best as we can.”

            Diego and Aurora both left the tavern, with Arya watching them, and went up to Aurora’s room where Aurora sat on her bed and Diego stood. Aurora said, “I think I should start by telling my side of the story. When I first learned of your motivations for joining the Guild, I was not the biggest fan of yours. However, you grew on me in time. When I saw you taking Ana’s side against even your oldest friend, Ned, I started to get a much better feeling about you. It was not long until that blossomed into romantic desire. When I heard that you were in love with Lugia, my heart sank. I tried to stop you from going to confess your love to her because I wanted to be with you myself. I kept telling myself that she would never reciprocate your feelings in any way for the same reason. I decided to fight you out of desperation because I wanted to stop you from becoming her consort.”

            Diego then interrupted, “Aurora, maybe you should have told me how you felt earlier. Things COULD have gone differently if you had. I will admit two things about you, one you are beautiful, two you could make me a father, something that Lady Lugia can never do. However, I feel determined to serve Lugia as her consort. I cannot, will not and do not want to back down now. I will say that you deserve to be loved by someone… other than me. You will hopefully make a wonderful girlfriend, wife and maybe even a wonderful mother someday. We need to still work together to stop Anarchos so that the world survives to let that happen!”

            Aurora asked, “So, Lady Lugia wants you to keep working with us for now?”

            Diego responded, “My lady sees stopping anyone/anything linked with Salazar as her current highest priority. Therefore, for the duration of the conflict, she wants me to stay with the team. If we do stop Anarchos, then I intend to leave the Guild to be with Lady Lugia after my parents’ security is assured.”

            **Lugia still had vengeance on the brain. Obviously, she was not planning on letting her homeworld get destroyed either.**

            Aurora then sighed and said, “Diego before you go, there is one thing you should know. I was planning to tell you on our first date, but since that will not happen… the reason I always hated wild Pokémon… I was raised as one.”

            **Finally that truth came out.**

            Diego raised one of his eyes, thought for a moment and said, “Well, it is still good to have you here with us. Good luck, Aurora. If you find someone, make sure to let me know. If I am around, that is.”

            Diego then was about to leave he then sighed deeply, turned around and embraced Aurora. She then wrapped her snakelike body around him. He said, “See you tomorrow.” He disengaged their embrace and quickly left.

            Aurora was frankly glad to have finally told someone about her origins. She thought, “Lugia does not know how lucky she is.”

            **And that leaves us with the final arc or two of the story. I am glad that Aurora and Diego could still be friends in the end.**


	26. The Deep Watcher

            Over the next six days, Diego continued to work with his team. Lugia had made it very clear that he was to assume the full duties of being her consort officially in due time. However, she still wanted him to keep working with his team until the world was clearly safe. Takara and the expert in decoding, whom Suicune had fetched for her, were apparently mostly through with decoding the cipher used to encode Salazar’s writing. The code had been very difficult to crack, but they were nearly finished with it.

            The night before there was to be a meeting to discuss the findings from the documents, Diego and Ned were sat at their usual places at the bar while Aurora was waiting for Arya at their usual table. Ana and Cordelia were out to dinner, as they often now were. Zane was sitting at the bar, on the opposite side of it from Diego and Ned. Paul walked in to the tavern and then walked up to where Aurora was sitting and asked her, “Hey Aurora, how are you doing after the fight?”

            Aurora sighed and said, “Better now, why do you ask?”

            Paul scratched his back a bit and then responded, “I was wondering if, when we get the chance, we could go out somewhere?”

            Aurora blushed and then smiled. She then quickly added, “Arya put you up to this, didn’t she?”

            **She saw through that one pretty quickly.**

            Paul smiled awkwardly and then admitted, “Yes, she most certainly did, now that you ask. She was polite about it though. She said that you need to be ‘picked up’ now. Besides, you are pretty and seem both nice and determined at the same time. I think I would enjoy getting to know you better.”

            Aurora smiled and nodded. She then replied, “Sure. Next time we both have a chance. We will go out somewhere nice and have a little ‘date.’”

            Paul smiled back at Aurora and then said, “Alright then, we will plan a good time after tomorrow’s meeting. Thank you for saying yes. It means a lot to both me… and Arya.”

            Paul then left the inn, Diego and Ned, who had noticed the conversation, smiled over in Aurora’s direction. She smiled back at them.     

            The next morning, the two Guild teams, Lugia, Suicune, Elias, Takara and her deputies all met just outside of the locals Sheriff’s office. A table had been placed outside with a number of decoded documents on it. Takara seemed greatly displeased as she called the meeting to order, saying, “Our decoding expert is already on their way home. Their assistance was quite useful, as we now know what these documents say. As it turns out, Salazar was both worshipping and actively serving an entity known as Anarchos. These documents seem to point to a plan to sacrifice as many Pokémon as possible to said entity in order to increase their power.”

            Lugia interrupted, “So, Diego’s team was right! Giratina was not actually responsible for the cult. They will not take it well, but we will need to inform Terrakion and Virizion if or when they return.”

            **Lugia had always believed Diego and his teammates.**

            Takara then continued, “As for the Chaos Shards, local farmers have begun to see them on the edges of town. They seem to be avoiding towns, for now. However, they have been observed hunting down and killing wild Pokémon whenever they have the numerical advantage and sometimes trying to do so even when outnumbered.”

            Suicune sighed and said, “These beings are clearly trying to take down easy and disorganized targets first. That is probably why they are hunting down small packs of wild Pokémon.”

            Takara added, “It seems, according to what we know, that it is impossible for this Anarchos to summon in their Chaos Shards where there are too many Pokémon concentrated in one place. That is why none have appeared in towns.”

            Elias then stepped in and said, “Admittedly, for all we know, this is happening all over the world. However, we can mainly affect our own region. We need a way to get the wild Pokémon organized so that they can fight the Chaos Shards with minimal losses.”

            **In this scenario, the lives of all Pokémon are considered precious. The real enemy no longer comes from within their kind.**

            Alfred then chimed in, “We would need to obtain the allegiance of some more Legendary Pokémon in order to do that. That is what Ana’s parents and other Guild Pokémon did in order to fight off the Imperium. Now, what other Legendary Pokémon can we find in this area?”

            Lugia thought for a moment and then said, “There are two that I know of. One of them is Xerneas, she is said to be the opposite of Yveltal, the incarnation of life. She should be relatively willing to assist us, considering what is at stake. The other is Zygarde, an ancient beast who rules an underground cave network and supposedly acts as a monitor on the world’s environment. I would think that he would not want the world destroyed either.”

            Elias then declared, “Ok, we will send a Guild team to meet with each of those Pokémon and fight them, if necessary. I will see if we can get some volunteers to go to the ancient arena and set up a camp there so that if Giratina opens up another portal, we will see it and be ready.”

            Lugia then looked down at Diego and his team and said, “I think that you should go locate and talk to Zygarde. The other team will go find Xerneas. Your team should be better prepared, Type-wise, anyways.”

            Diego responded, “Anything for you, my Lady.”

            Elias and Takara agreed to the arrangement. It was not long until both the uniquely verdant grove to the north were Xerneas was said to live and an entrance to Zygarde’s cave network were uncovered by a combination of airborne scouts and looking over old maps.

            As the preparations were being made, Alfred hoped that the Guild Headquarters in Megapolis had received his letter and that the Guild was taking action against the Chaos Shards. Ned just hoped that the two surviving Swords of Justice would return to Semberta Town soon.

            **They each had their own concerns in this situation.**

            The two teams set off from town and quickly took different paths. While Ana’s team headed west for the Fairy Grove, Diego’s team traveled eastward, closer to the old arena. They found, as night was falling, a large cave entrance in the ground. They set up camp outside it. As Diego fell asleep while Aurora kept watch, he hoped Lugia, who was had been sent on an aerial patrol to hunt down and eliminate Chaos Shards, would stay safe.

            The next morning, the team began their trek into the ancient cave system. They had been told that, according to legend, Zygarde lived at the bottom of the caves. Therefore, they should keep going down, wherever possible, in order to locate him.

            For what felt like a couple days, based on the number of times when they had to find a safe place to rest within the cave network, the team traveled downwards. During their travels, they used Diego’s tail to light the way. The team encountered many wild Pokémon on their journey. Some of them kept their distance, some of which tried to fight the team in small, comparatively weak, groups and were defeated. They ran into a few “nests” of wild Pokémon, which they tried to avoid getting too close to. This was in order to avoid being overwhelmed by swarms of wild foes. Eventually, the team found themselves in a part of the cave where the path became relatively straight and stopped branching off in different directions. There, they walked for about an hour until they encountered a pair of Gabite and a Garchomp. These seemed unconnected to the ones who had served Kyurem.

            The Garchomp quickly dug underground, as his two Gabite rushed at Aurora. They each sliced into her with their Dragon Claws.

            Diego and Ned both Mega-Evolved as Alfred targeted a Gabite and dropped him with a single shot of Icy Wind. Aurora slithered back and then hit the Gabite with a Twister, injuring him severely.

            Ned used his Aqua Tail on the Gabite, finding himself scratched by the foe’s Rough Skin in the process. Then, Diego rushed the target with his Slash move and finished the enemy with a cut to his face.

            The Garchomp, somewhat surprised to see his minions downed, then burst out of the ground and struck Diego with his Dig move. Diego was badly injured, but still able to keep fighting.

            Alfred, realizing that this was his time to shine, sniped the lead enemy with an Icy Wind. The move dealt massive damage to the Garchomp, who recoiled in pain. Aurora then rushed in with an Aqua Tail and struck him with it. Ned then carefully aimed his Hydro Pump move and used it to finish off the target.  

            As Diego was recovering from his injuries, he said, “Those were probably the toughest wild Pokémon we have seen in these caverns. We are hopefully close to Zygarde.”

            **If they were not close, I would probably not have started detailing the fights.**

            Ned responded, “Let’s keep moving, we need to finish this job. We have been away from town for three days by now… I think.”

            The team walked for what felt like another hour until they reached what looked like the entrance to a larger, lit, cavern. Guarding the cavern were a group of five Slugma and one Magcargo. The wild Pokémon attacked the team on sight.

            The Magcargo rushed closer to the team and breathed a Flamethrower at Alfred. The attack sniped him and dealt severe damage. The Slugma moved in on the team and fired off a barrage of Rock Throw attacks. Two of them hit Diego, he dodged a third, and two of them hit Aurora.

            Ned then Mega-Evolved and lined up a Water Pulse, which took down three of the Slugma. Aurora blasted the remaining foes with a Twister attack, which did not drop any of them. Diego Mega-Evolved and rushed an injured Slugma with a Dragon Rage, which hit and nearly finished the foe. Alfred then, for once, charged in and dropped that Slugma with a Slash of his own.

            The Magcargo saw that Ned was actually the biggest threat of the team members, so she used a Smog attack on him. Ned was hit by the poisonous gas and weakened. Then, Alfred evaded a Rock Throw from the last of the Slugma.

            Ned counter-sniped the Magcargo with a Hydro Pump and she sustained massive damage from his attack. Aurora then bravely charged the Magcargo and finished her off with an Aqua Tail. Then, as the Slugma was about to retreat Alfred and Diego each Slashed into him and he fainted.

            The team members rested, after their successful battle, and then they entered the cavern that the squad of wild Pokémon had been guarding. They saw a single serpentine Pokémon, around the size of an Onix or a Steelix, sitting atop a massive slab of stone at the back on the cavern. Zygarde stirred and then, not moving from his slab, gazed down at the team. He said, his voice slow, stern and calm, “So, I have visitors. You have beaten my guards in battle. So, you have earned the right to battle with me…. Well done.”

            Ned shouted, “Zygarde, we do not want to fight, we need your help, Pokémon are dying, you see…”

            Zygarde then calmly replied, “Defeat me and I will listen to your request. You must have entered my cavernous kingdom for a reason. I will admit that I have become a ‘bit blind’ to the outside world ever since the humans destroyed themselves. However, there is no more time to waste, let us begin!”

            **I guess that I wanted this “boss battle” to happen regardless of the narrative need for it to take place.**

            Zygarde unleashed his Land’s Wrath move, creating a damaging pattern across the ground. The attack blasted the whole team except for Diego, whose Flying Type made him immune.

            Diego decided not to Mega Evolve to preserve his Type advantage, he flew up to Zygarde and struck him with a Dragon Rage. The attack barely dented the legendary serpent, however. 

            **I certainly confirmed that Pokémon in my setting are aware of types and their interactions in this universe then.**

            Alfred sniped Zygarde with his Icy Wind, the attack having a massive impact on the serpent. Zygarde recoiled from the hit and then focused his attention on Alfred.

            Ned then Mega-Evolved and sniped Zygarde with his Hydro Pump, while Aurora detonated a Twister under him.

            Zygarde looked heavily weakened by the combination of attacks. He then breathed a Dragon Breath attack, which flew directly into Alfred’s face. The shot knocked him clean out.

            Aurora, clearly frustrated, shouted, “It seems like every time we fight a Legendary Pokémon Alfred hurts them the most and then gets knocked out!”

            **That was definitely an example of “lampshade hanging.”**

            Diego cut into Zygarde with his Slash attack, even though the serpent’s thick skin blocked most of the damage.

            Ned then shot Zygarde with another Hydro Pump and Aurora finished him with a second Twister, the Super-Effective blast toppling the great snake.

            **The team has beaten death himself. So, even Zygarde was not much of a challenge by comparison.**  

            As the three standing teammates breathed sighs of relief, Ned went to revive Alfred.

            After Alfred was revived, the team waited for Zygarde to regain consciousness. When he finally did, the great serpent “stood” and then, still sounding quite calm asked, “You have won the battle. You all work well together. So, what is it that you wish of me?”

            Because she had dealt the final blow to Zygarde, Aurora had to do the job of explaining to him what the team needed from him. She told him of Anarchos and of the Chaos Shards and of the danger that they all posed to the world. Zygarde, after listening to Aurora, then thought for a few moments and then said, “I see. It seems like you all had a very good reason to come here. I know a quick way back to the entrance that I believe you came in from. I will send out my Pokémon to organize as many surviving wild Pokémon as they can and bring them to the caverns or as close as they can, even if they have to knock them out to do so. They will also attack any of these ‘Chaos Shards’ they see on sight unless heavily outnumbered.”

            **At least he was agreeable once defeated in battle.**

            Diego responded, “We are very grateful to have your support, Lord Zygarde. Please take us to the exit so that we can return to Semberta Town as soon as possible.”

            The team rode Zygarde up through a steep passageway that soon took them to the cave entrance where they had begun their journey. Zygarde wished them good luck and retuned to rally his subjects.

            As the team, noticing that is was actually evening, prepared to rest, they looked up into the sky and saw a massive black object. It was a massive sphere coursing with rainbow energy.

            Ned nervously said, “We should get back to town tomorrow. I think that Anarchos is moving their plan along faster than we could have expected!”

            **It seems like the chaos god could be aware of the forces now arrayed against them.**


	27. The Second Battle of Semberta Town

            Diego and his team rushed back to Semberta Town as fast as they could, they found themselves there the next evening. When they arrived, the massive black sphere was still in the sky, in the exact same place it had been before. As the team was walking back into Town, they found Suicune there waiting for them. She said, “Welcome back. As you can see, our situation seems to have gotten worse. More and more Chaos Shards are now roaming the wastes and that orb grows larger in the sky. Presumably, that means that more and more Pokémon are being sacrificed to empower Anarchos. Lady Lugia has gone to fetch her brother, my master, Lord Ho-oh. Hopefully they will both be back here as soon as possible. On the plus side, a letter has come in via Pellipper for Alfred. Virizion and Terrakion have safely returned and have been briefed about Anarchos. A guard team has been posted at the portal location, with the ability to quickly send us messages via flying Pokémon. And lastly, the other local team has returned safely. They can tell you what happened on their end personally when you meet with them.”

            Diego was disappointed that Lugia was gone for the time being. After the team updated Suicune on how their mission had gone, Ned went off to find Terrakion and Virizion while the rest of his team went to the Guild Office.

            Once they entered the Guild Office, they found the other team there as well as Riko. Riko smiled at Alfred and said, “Sir, a letter came in while you were gone. It is from HQ. You should read it post haste!”

            **Finally, Riko did not call his boss “Mr. Alfred.”**

            Alfred said, “I was told we would have a letter. Ana, how was your team’s mission?”    

            Ana replied, “We spent at least a day marching through the Fairy Grove until we found the Lady Xerneas at its center. She challenged us to a duel with the aid of a pair of Sylveon elite guards. After we survived the fight and defeated them, we explained the situation to her and she agreed to bring as many wild Pokémon as possible into the grove to protect them from the minions of Anarchos.”

            Aurora then said, “As for us, we were able to find Zygarde, after quite a long time searching for him. We quickly defeated him in battle and then he agreed to essentially the same thing the Xerneas did. It seems like Anarchos is still moving their plan along, however.”

            **They have only begun to rally Pokémon in one part of the world for now… However, the letter remains.**

            Diego then said, “Alfred, you should read the letter right now. Riko said that it is from the Guild’s headquarters over in Megapolis.”

            Alfred nodded and then took the letter from Riko. Then, he carefully used his claws to open it and then began to read it aloud, “To Alfred, commander of P.A.G. office frontier… Son, I am surprised and in a way both nervous and greatly pleased to hear that you have joined a frontline team. I was not made aware of that fact until now. Your mother and I are both very proud of you and look forward to meeting your teammates. Also, we are quite interested to hear that you have been working with the Legendary Pokémon Lady Lugia, as we briefly did. Now, down to the matter at hand, we have detected numerous ‘Chaos Shards’ all over the Alliance Territory and in other places where the Guild operates. Those creatures, along with the remaining cultists serving Anarchos have been openly wreaking havoc all over the world, from what we know. We believe that they have been, after gathering enough strength, assaulting towns and even some small cities to sacrifice the inhabitants inside en masse. I believe that permanently slaying Anarchos themself is the only way to end this destruction. After what you told us about Giratina, we can only hope that he will open up a portal to where you were deposited in the mortal world soon enough. In order to help with fighting Anarchos, assuming we even get the opportunity, your mother, Akira, and I, Ana’s parents and her brother, Rico are coming up to the frontier as soon as we can find a way. Look for us to arrive at the port of Semberta Town whenever we can. Signed… Guild Master Shade, of the Pokémon Adventurers Guild.”

            **The Anarchos situation has become a planetary-level crisis. Only the death of Anarchos will bring an end to it. Shade normally knew what he was talking about.**

            As Alfred was catching his breath Ana looked nervous, Paul asked her, “Ana, what is wrong?”

            Ana replied, “It’s not that I am dating Cordelia. My mom, dad, and even my brother love me for who I am. It’s just that they probably still have not forgiven Zane for their run in with him before I was even born.”

            Zane then looked quite nervous himself and said, “I am just glad that the letter said nothing about bringing their friend Delilah. She is the one who would be angriest with me. Seeing as though I abducted her and all…”

            Cordelia then looked at Ana and asked, “Wasn’t your mother Kyla a reformed outlaw?”

            Ana sighed and replied, “Correct, honey, she was like you. At least in a way she was. She was driven into it by bad circumstances. Zane stayed at it until he was caught, admittedly like you and my mother, but he was at it for a long while. Also, he was an outlaw leader who was willing to sacrifice his own subordinates to be captured so he could get away if necessary. That is the memory that my parents have of him.”  

            Zane gave a deep sigh and then said, “That is all true, Ana is right about the Pokémon that I was in the past. We just have to hope that they understand. Maybe we should not point the connection to their past out right from the start, huh?”

            Everyone in the room nodded and then Ana told Cordelia, “I think that my family will be able to get to know and like you. My mother might even see a little of herself in you, with any luck.”

            **We can only hope…**

            Cordelia blushed and then embraced Ana.

            Paul then turned to Aurora and then said, “As long as the town is still standing, should we go out tonight?”

            Aurora nodded yes and replied, “I said yes before and I fully intend to follow up on what I agreed to before.”

            **I guess that going on dates with the world possibly about to end is consider Ok here?**

            A few days later, Lugia had still not returned with Ho-oh and the Guild reinforcements had not yet shown up. When asked, Aurora had told her three teammates that she had actually quite enjoyed her date with Paul. He had eaten voraciously, but paid for everything and acted like a real gentlemon otherwise. She admitted that she found his appetite kind of cute. She had later met his parents and decided that she quite liked them as well. Aurora and Paul went on a second date later and then, at Ana’s suggestion, went to gaze at the stars, looking away from the large black orb that slowly continued to grow in the sky.  

            **That was a weird suggestion from Ana, considering the circumstances.**

            One morning, the Guild Pokémon, the two Swords of Justice, Suicune and Arya were all called to the Sheriff’s office. When they arrived, they saw that the local Pokémon were hard at work on making sure that the fortifications that had been built to hold off Kyurem’s army were in the best shape possible. Takara told the assembled Pokémon, “Everyone, it seems like we have been a thorn in Anarchos’s side for too long in their view. Chaos Shards are gathering in the wastelands just north of town. There are hundreds of them. We need to keep in mind that even though Chaos Shards are not hard to destroy, that they can impale weakened Pokémon and kill them instantly. Therefore, this battle will be far more lethal than our previous engagements. The local Pokémon who can fight effectively are gathering in the trenches. I need all of you to split up into groups and move out to hold our defenses.”

            Suicune said, “I will take Virizion and Terrakion and hold the center of the line. Each Guild team will take a flank and hold it as best as they can.”

            Arya said, “Sheriff, I want to help this time. I can help you fight them off as best as I can. I am actually quite experienced in combat.”

            Takara replied, “Of course, you will help me and my deputies lead the locals. Why else would I have called you here along with the others?”

            Paul shouted to Aurora as the teams were moving away from each other, “Good luck out there. I want to see you again.”

            Aurora quickly replied, “Right back at you.”

            **Seems like Paul and Aurora have become an “item” off screen. I put them together mainly to make sure Aurora would not end up lonely after being rejected by Diego.**

            The various units rapidly moved out to take their positions. Diego looked out and saw a veritable sea of blackness coursing with sparks of rainbow energy. As the Pokémon of Semberta Town took their positions, the Chaos Shards advanced across the open field. As the Chaos Shards charged forward, the defenders unleashed a series of ranged attacks on the frontal ranks of enemies.

            Diego Mega-Evolved and then flew up into the air he then used Heat Wave, which had replaced Ember for him, to rain down blasts of fire on his targets.

            Ned also Mega-Evolved and then used Water Pulse as Aurora blew a number of Chaos Shards into the air with a Twister.

            With uncharacteristic bravery, Alfred ran out into the field and began using his Fury Swipes to hack into a number of foes.

            **Readers should know that Alfred is mainly the team’s sniper by now. I wonder why he took that risk?**

            The Chaos Shards began to collide with the defender’s front lines.             The more melee combat-focused Pokémon, such as the Swords of Justice, were engaging the hostile beings, while Pokémon in the back, such as Suicune and Arya, would blast them with ranged moves. 

            Some of the Chaos Shards who were unable to easily reach the front lines began to rip off parts of themselves and hurl them at the defenders. When the balls of pure chaos hit, they would injure and stun their targets. That would allow the frontline attackers to wear them down and sometimes impale them.

            Diego dodged a few balls of pure chaos and then used another Heat Wave. His teammates seemed to have found strategies that worked best for them. They were all focused on targeting as many foes as possible and destroying them in large groups.

            While the places where the strongest Pokémon were stationed were holding, such as the far flanks and the very center, the two large stretches in the middle were weaker. Takara and Arya were busy running back and forth to try and reinforce whatever area needed the most help at the time.   

            The Chaos Shards were taking heavy losses on their side. However, they did not care. They existed only to serve Anarchos and to destroy their enemies. So, they just kept coming, doing their best to survive long enough to kill, or at least weaken, some of the defenders in the trenches.

The catapults of Semberta Town then began to fire. They had been adjusted to launch their projectiles out to a longer range and they brought down a decent number of Chaos Shards with each large boulder, or barrage of Blast Seeds.

            The Chaos Shards had managed to slay a significant number of the town’s weaker defenders. However, they had lost more than half of their force by this point.

            Diego continued to detonate his Heat Wave blasts onto the swarms of enemies while Ned doused them with Water Pulses and Aurora blew them away with Twisters. Alfred had begun to fall back and he started using his normal strategy of picking off foes with long-distance shots of Icy Wind.

            Suddenly, Diego was struck by a number of spheres of pure chaos and plummeted to the ground. As he tried to pick himself up and off the ground, seeing his teammates try to fight off an encircling swarm of enemies. He saw a Chaos Shard above him preparing to impale him. He fired off a Flamethrower at the being, but another Chaos Shard “jumped” in front of its fellow and was destroyed in its place.

            Diego glared at the being of pure chaos above him. However, as it moved to strike, a cone of nearly invisible psychic energy, from the move Extrasensory, destroyed it along with another five nearby shards. A very familiar female voice called out, “I cannot allow my consort to die, now can I?”

            **I was planning to have Kyla, the protagonist of the first story appear here and be the one to save Diego. However, it ended up being Lugia. As for Kyla, she does not enter this story until the next chapter. As another note, I do think that when comparing Kyla and Diego, Kyla was the better main character of the two. Also, Kyla seemed to have more importance, and got to do more important things, in her story than Diego did in his.**

            Diego saw that his Lady, Lugia had flown in accompanied by another huge avian, this one covered with rainbow plumage, who he assumed had to be Ho-oh. Ho-oh used a Gust to obliterate eight Chaos Shards in one shot and then a yellow beast jumped from his back to join Suicune and the two Swords of justice in fighting to hold the center of the line, using electric attacks to do so. 

            **Once again, the cavalry has arrived on the scene.**

            With air support from Ho-oh and Lugia and the arrival of Raikou on the ground, the defense of Semberta Town was a success. The entire force of Chaos Shards sent to wipe out the settlement was destroyed and the frontier’s coast was safe for the time being. After the battle, the Guild teams, Takara, Arya and the various Legendaries had all survived, even though the town had seen many losses that day.

            **I believed that the named characters had to survive to the final battle.**

            After the battle, Lugia said, “I am glad that we arrived when we did. Even if you all still held out, we would have taken more severe losses and Diego could have died if we did not come in the nick of time.”

            Ho-oh then added, “Entei will hopefully be able to lead the defense of my mountain fortress by himself. It was wise of you to retrieve me, sister, this place clearly needed our help.”

            Suicune and Raikou, who everyone remembered were mates, seemed very pleased to be together again. Sherriff Takara then made sure that there would always be a significant watch at the north gate to the town. That evening there was a subdued celebration for the victory over the Chaos Shards. Paul and Aurora happily danced and so did Ana and Cordelia. Diego learned that Lugia had already explained their arrangement to her brother who was not his “sister’s keeper” and therefore was not too interested in meddling in her personal affairs.

            **That means that he does not intend to interfere with Lugia and Diego’s relationship.**

            The next morning, the two Guild teams were in the Guild office when Suicune, followed by Raikou, entered. Suicune announced, “Everyone, for the first time in a long while, there is a barge docked at this town’s port!”

            **Reinforcements have arrived…**


	28. The Guild Reinforcements

            **This chapter was given a sillier name earlier. However, I changed it before posting.**

            Suicune had just announced to everyone at the Guild office that, for the first time in a while, a barge had arrived at the port of Semberta Town. Alfred responded, “I wonder if this barge will be carrying the Guild reinforcements, whom we have been waiting for?”

            Ana then interjected, “Alfred, you mean our parents and my brother.”

            **Yes, that is who he meant.**

            Raikou then said, “Lady Lugia is at the docks now. Lord Ho-oh is off checking in with the Guard you all posted at the portal location.”

            Zane quickly added, “I should return to the inn, just in case it is the Guild reinforcements. I do not want to risk a run in with them. Especially if it is unplanned.”

            As Zane was leaving, Paul said, “Well, I will go with you all to check out the barge. If the Guild Master himself is here, then I would quite like to meet him in person. Also, since he is known for his prowess as a researcher, maybe he knows what that black sphere is supposed to do for our enemy?”

            Cordelia then smiled and told Ana, “If we meet with your family, then, you will have to introduce me.”

            Ana smiled back and nodded saying, “Of course, Cordelia. It would be wrong of me not to.”

            **She is not afraid of her girlfriend meeting her parents.**

            Diego then added, “We should all set off now. I need to be with my Lady anyways.”

            While Riko, who still wanted to see the Guild Master again, was left to manage the office, the seven Guild Pokémon formed a procession and went to the docks. Suicune and Raikou followed them in order to meet with Lugia.

            At the docks, they all saw that there was indeed a single barge docked at the port. The barge was clearly well built and had the symbols of both the Alliance Territory and the Pokémon Adventurers Guild painted on its sides. Close to the front of the vehicle, attached to each of its sides on swivels, there were repeating ballista weapons for defensive purposes. The arriving procession saw a male Lucario on board who was busy at work unloading the vehicle. They also saw that Lugia was conversing with a female Lucario, a female Weavile, a Male Machoke and a Male Zoroark who were all wearing Guild badges.

            **There they are… I could not help but smile when I read that again.**

            Diego walked over to stand next to Lugia, as did Suicune and Raikou.

            Ned, Paul and Aurora all stood back a bit and watched as Alfred walked up to his mother and father.

            Akira smiled warmly and then tackled her son to the ground, saying, “We should have known you would join an active duty team! By the way, we got you a present, but we will give it to you later. We think you will appreciate it very much.”

            Shade saluted his son, as he got back up and told him, “Alfred, even though we would have noticed the Chaos Shards ourselves soon enough, good job finding out their root cause. Now we just need to find a way to slay the creature behind all of this.”

            Ana walked up to her parents as Rico was brining another trunk off of the barge, Chadwick and Kyla both ran up and embraced Ana, tightly.

            **Awww…**

            After the embrace ended Chad told his daughter, “We wish we could have brought more help, but the Chaos Shards have old Theodore and Rexford seriously occupied. Delilah had to stay with her husband. Stephan, along with Stanford, has taken over the defense of Riverton. We had to come and see you, so we volunteered to come with Shade and Akira. Rico is now working as a research assistant for Shade, so it made sense for him to come up here along with us.”

            **That explains what happened to the other main characters from the first story.**

            Kyla smiled at her daughter and then added, “And you have evolved, to boot. As you can see, so has Rico. We are very relieved to see you alive, with all that has been happening. Lugia tells us that Arya, of all Pokémon, is here and has been working with you all. Assuming that she does not know that it was me who killed Mewtwo, why don’t we keep it that way.”

            **Arya did not learn who killed Mewtwo until after the main events of this story.**

            Ana replied, “Understood about Arya. As to why she is working with us… Well, that is a long story. What is more important now is that you two meet Cordelia. She is not only one of my team members, she is also my girlfriend.”

            **Ana certainly kept her promise fast.**

            Cordelia stepped forward and politely shook hands with a slightly stunned Chadwick and then with Kyla. She then said, “I have wanted to meet you two for quite some time. You will learn that I actually have a bit in common with Ana’s mother.”

            Rico then walked over and said, “Well that should be interesting. Hello again, sis. Diane wanted to come, but she is still a civilian and we could not afford to bring someone with close to no fighting experience on a trip like this one.”

            **Diane being Rexford and Delilah’s daughter, for anyone who forgot.**

            Ana replied, “I assume you two are still together?”

            Rico smiled and nodded as Shade shouted over to them, “Let’s all get our things to the local inn. We can discuss our plans after that.”

            Once everyone was nearing the inn Akira asked, “So, Alfred, you, Lady Lugia’s new consort Diego, Ned and Aurora are on a Guild team. And Ana, Cordelia and Paul are on another. So, who is or was the last member of Ana’s team?”

            Kyla stopped and interjected, “Akira, hold that thought. I sense an aura I have not sensed since we visited your old prison. What is…?”

            **Seems like Kyla has still been honing her Aura sense. She detected Zane in particular at quite a reasonable range.**

            Ana, Cordelia and Paul all nervously looked at each other as Chad gave his wife a concerned look and Rico looked over to his mother, having never sensed Zane’s aura.             

            Kyla exclaimed, “Why is he here, up in the frontier? This makes zero sense!”

            Chad looked over at his wife and asked, “Kyla, who is it?”

            Kyla looked back over at her husband and replied, “It’s our first real enemy. That criminal Sableye who kidnapped Delilah, he is in the inn.”

            Akira then chimed in, “If he is here, it is probably for some sinister purpose. Possibly he got stuck here due to the Chaos Shard attacks and could not move on like he always did.”

            Rico then mentioned, “Anyway, assuming he is the aura I think he is, then, he is on the move. He is heading for the first floor. Possibly to quickly and safely exit the building.”

            Lugia finally looked at Diego and then looked over at Ana. She then decided she knew what she had to do. She sternly said, “Kyla, I think you should shift your sense to your daughter and her teammates’ auras. They are actually worried for the one you are targeting.”

            Kyla gave Lugia a look, but did as she was told. Ana looked defeated, knowing that she could scramble her aura but that Cordelia, Paul and Diego’s team could not as Lugia continued, “That Sableye now calls himself Zane. He is the one who is the fourth member of Ana’s team. He now pursues outlaws since he knows how that lifestyle is a real dead-end. He did not come to meet with you because he knew that you would not want to see him again after what happened during your first encounter with him.”

            **Lugia clearly values honesty and was able to take the pressure off of Ana there. Also, the whole “Aura Scrambling” idea from the first story returns here.**

            Shade looked sternly at Alfred and said, “Son, this one is, sort of, on you. You ran the frontier’s Guild office and you should have known whom he was. We do allow former outlaws in, yes. However, ones who have kidnapped Guild members, that is another story. I will not automatically expel this Pokémon, but I will need to speak with him myself. At least whenever the opportunity arises.”

            Alfred then said, “Father, the truth is, Zane did tell me about his past. But, Ana and Paul convinced me to let him form their team because they wanted his experience to help track down the bank robbers who Cordelia worked with before she was arrested and defected to our side. Honestly, that robbery started off the chain of events that led us to where we are today. We now know what Anarchos is and, hopefully, we have a chance of killing them.”  

            Kyla sighed deeply and told Ana, “I think that you can be a little too trusting sometimes. Maybe you got too wrapped up in meeting someone else from our stories, I do not know. But, I just hope that letting this ‘Zane’ into the Guild does not cause issues.”

            Akira grinned and said, “Kyla, it’s like when the Polumbos Town Guild office let you in all over again.”

            **It looks like history repeats itself here.**

            Kyla actually looked legitimately angry with Akira over that one. However, Chadwick gave her a pat on the back and she calmed down.

            Sherry arranged a single inn room for Rico. She also arranged couples inn rooms for Kyla and Chad as well as Akira and Shade. The next day, all of the Guild members, the two Swords of Justice, Arya, Takara, Elias, the local deputies, Suicune, Raikou, Lugia and the, newly returned, Ho-oh all met in, the cleared out, town square.

            **That was a LOT of characters to rattle off in one paragraph. A hell of a big battle is coming up soon…**

Shade had laid some papers out on a large table. He began his presentation to the assembled Pokémon by saying, “Alright, everyone, I believe that I have uncovered what Anarchos is trying to do. Using some documents taken from a cultist cell that was located near Megapolis combined with the ones looted from High Priest Salazar, I have determined that the massive sphere of energy that is building in the world’s upper atmosphere is the weapon of revenge for Anarchos. They intend to use the orb by, once is grows to the ideal size, spinning it to an immense velocity and sending it into the planet. Regardless of where it lands, the sphere will burrow into the ground until it reaches the world’s core. There, it will detonate, shattering the planet into comparatively minuscule fragments. Of course, this will result in the death of every living thing on this world.”

**You think?**

            Lugia asked, “Anarchos is using the energy from the slain Pokémon their Chaos Shards have been sacrificing to grow the sphere. The problem is that we cannot currently stop them from summoning new Chaos Shards. It seems like it will get to the right size eventually. How do we stop it now?”

            Shade sighed and said, “Admittedly, we need to get to where Anarchos is and attack them! If we can significantly injure Anarchos, they will need to draw energy from the sphere in order to heal or risk actually dying. It will probably be a prolonged and risky battle, but we will have to engage them in order to save our kind from extinction!”

            Ned then spoke up to say, “The ‘wild card’ in all of this is Giratina. We have to see if he can get us to Anarchos so that we can carry out Guild Master Shade’s plan.”

            Ho-oh added, “We should pick who will go to help in the actual fight with Anarchos. Hopefully, that opportunity does present itself in the first place.”

            Elias then thought for a moment and said, “It cannot be too many Pokémon. Only because we need to make it so they can all be ferried to the portal location quickly, probably within a day.”

            **A good point, despite the need for a large force to battle such a powerful foe.**

            Shade then said, “As the leader of the P.A.G. I say that every active duty Guild member here will go, if possible. Also, Kyla and Chadwick should go. Also, all of the Legendary Pokémon that we have here with us will go. From what you have told me, Xerneas and Zygarde will take too long to access and should stay in their domains, anyways.”

            Arya then spoke up, saying, “Ho-oh and Lugia can do most of the ferrying, along with Suicune, Raikou, Terrakion and Virizion. As someone who was almost sacrificed to Anarchos, I want to go as well. A whole lot of you have reason to hate me, and I might even hate a couple of you back, but you will need my experience when you are fighting a god. That is, even if we end up with multiple demigods on our side.”

            **This time, Arya wants to fight the “final boss,” not date the “final boss.”**

            Takara added, “She is a good ranged fighter. You will find her to be helpful. I will be staying in Semberta Town. I should be here to lead the local defenders in case there is another Chaos Shard assault.”

            As the gathered Pokémon discussed the idea of whom they should bring, amongst themselves, Elias said, “I think we should settle it like this. There will be a total of thirteen Non-Legendary Pokémon going to help fight Anarchos: the two local teams, Shade, Akira, Chad, Kyla and Arya. Diego can fly himself. Lugia and Ho-oh can each fly four Pokémon and one Pokémon can ride on the back of each of the land-bound legendaries. It is settled, the total number of Pokémon we will send will be nineteen.”   

            **I guess that as the town’s Mayor, he has that authority here? At least the authority to propose a plan that is.**

            In the end, after a small amount of debate, everyone agreed to that arrangement. Another four days passed until, one morning, everyone was woken up early and called to the north gate of town by Takara’s deputies. When the whole expeditionary force of nineteen Pokémon had arrived, Takara told them, “Giratina has opened a portal at the old arena. Our Pidgeot messenger says that he needs as much help as we can quickly send. Giratian will apparently explain everything once the expeditionary force is through the portal.”

            Diego then looked over to Lugia and said, “Let’s move out, in that case. That black sphere is still growing in the sky.”

            **The fate of the whole world is truly at stake. I find it interesting that my first two main antagonists, Mewtwo and Anarchos, would definitely be enemies. The former wanted to rule the world, the latter wanted to obliterate it.**

            The expeditionary force mounted up and soon began the quick trek across the wasteland to the old arena.


	29. Pokémon Versus Chaos: Resistance to Extinction

            **This chapter’s title was a bit silly and even maybe spoiler-ish? I will admit that here.**

            The nineteen-member expeditionary force managed to arrive at the ruined arena that late evening. They had been forced to destroy a small number of Chaos Shard stragglers as they crossed the wastelands during the day. Thankfully, that had not slowed them down much. When the force arrived, the head of the Guards, a Frogadier, told them, “When Giratina opened the portal this morning, he said that he would do so again the next morning and that we should gather as many strong Pokémon as possible to meet him here then. It seems like you all are ready to meet with him. You all should get some rest. We will fend off any Chaos Shards that arrive here during the night.”

**He knows how important the expeditionary force being battle-ready is. They will have to face Anarchos personally.**

            As the members of the expeditionary force prepared for their rest, camping out as best as they could in the old arena, Lugia and Diego sat next to each other. They watched Paul and Aurora cuddling, as happy as they could be before the battle to come. They also watched Alfred talking with Akira, his mother. Akira told Alfred, “Son, we were so caught up in the whole ruckus with Zane that we forgot to give you your present. …Here you go.”

            Akira took out a claw-shaped item, which she tossed to Alfred, he took it and his whole body began to glow. Alfred evolved from Sneasel to Weavile. Alfred grinned and embraced his mother he then said, “I think we all need some sleep now. Go over and be with dad before the battle tomorrow.”

            **It sure took Alfred a long time to evolve. Almost the whole story.**

            After watching Akira return to her husband, Shade, Diego looked over to Lugia and she looked down at him. She then mentioned, “I was thinking, after I prevented that Chaos Shard from perforating you, that I think we are sort of even.”

            **I like how I used the word “perforating” there.**

            Diego nodded in understanding, and then replied, “I would still save you again and again ad infinitum. I would do it because I love you. Also, I would do it no matter the personal risk.”

            Diego then flapped his wings and flew up to where his eyes met with Lugia’s. He then, lovingly wrapped his arms around her neck and she placed him in her “hands.” They then shared a long, gentle, kiss.

            **I guess that that was meant to be romantic?**

            After the kiss ended, as they continued to gaze into each other’s eyes Lugia told Diego, “It’s so funny. I know, from what you have told me by now, that you first entered into the life of an adventurer to gain glory. But, in the end, you ironically decided that your life would be better spent in the service of another.”

            **I guess that that was character development?**

            Diego smiled and responded, “Love can do that to someone. Once my parents are financially secure. I will be ready to fully commit myself to you, my Lady.”

            Lugia released Diego and then said, “Well, I am honestly happy that I gave you a chance. If we are victorious, then you will become my consort in full. I promise you that.”

            Diego landed and bowed to his Lady. The two of them curled up close together and slept a long and peaceful night. As did the other couples in the force. The arena guards giving it their all to stop any and all Chaos Shards from being able to enter the ruins.  

            **They certainly needed to do so. Considering the stakes involved.**

            The next morning, the expeditionary force awoke and gathered in front of where the portal was supposedly to open. Then, the same Pidgeot who had delivered the message to town returned. They all saw that he was carrying Rico with him. After the Pidgeot landed and re-joined the arena guards, Rico told everyone, “I had to be here. I need to be with my family on an occasion like this one. We have to stand and fight together… even if that means us dying together.”

            Chadwick gave his son a solid pat on the shoulder, as the ground suddenly began to shake and a familiar looking rift in reality began to open. Once the rift reached its maximum size, Giratina peered through it, he said, “Oh, good, you four brought a lot of reinforcements. I hope that you all are ready, because today is the day when we do battle with Anarchos, the incarnation of chaos!”

            **He is being dramatic, but this was a dramatic situation.**

            Giratina drew back from the rift to allow the expeditionary force to move into the outer world. It was only a few minutes until all twenty Pokémon were crossed over. The arena Guards waved goodbye enthusiastically, wishing those going off to battle Anarchos good luck.

            Once the entire force was in the outer world safely, Giratina closed the portal. Then, Diego asked him, “What is the situation here, I assume you brought us here to fight Anarchos personally.”

            Giratina nodded and then said, “Thanks to your team, Yveltal did send in considerable backup to my forces to help hold the line against the Chaos Shards. Now, I have been able to locate Dialga and Palkia. The bad news is that Dialga, while able to help us fight Anarchos, cannot do anything with the time stream thanks to the interference Anarchos creates. Palkia, well…she is still wracked with guilt for something and is not in the mental shape to help us, even with something this critical.”

            Ned then asked, “What could she have done? What could have made her unwilling to help us when the whole world is at stake?”

            Giratina responded, “It seems that Palkia actually convinced a certain human named Rudolph Stevens to lead the military revolt that led to the destruction of humankind. Palkia only wanted Pokémon to be free. What she got was humanity going extinct.”

            **Turns out that Mr. Stevens was divinely inspired… just not by Arceus. In the end, he still doomed his species. See Ruination for more on that.**

            Shade then mentioned, “Well, that is one piece of the human extinction puzzle that my research never did locate.” 

            **The more you know…**

            Giratina then began to lead the force through his fortress, explaining, “We also know where Anarchos is now. We believe that in order to complete the ritual to destroy the material world, Anarchos has been both immobilized and weakened. However, they are surrounded and protected by their Chaos Shards. Oscar is going to lead my forces to try and fight off most of the Chaos Shards so that we can bring our strongest Pokémon to attack Anarchos. They will be forced to heal themselves by draining power from the sphere of destruction they have conjured. Once the sphere is drained completely, Anarchos will have no more source of healing and we will stand a chance of killing them for good. This time, I know how they got away. If we win this battle, they will not survive.”

            **Good to hear that he learned from the mistakes of the past.**

            Shade chuckled; impressed that he had had the same general plan as Giratina.

            Outside of the fortress, over one hundred of Giratina’s followers, led by Oscar, awaited the force’s arrival. Standing with them was a gargantuan blue Pokémon whom everyone recognized from statues and other artworks as Dialga, the demigod of time. Dialga said to Giratina, in a very deep and profound voice, “I see you really did bring in reinforcements. This will be more difficult without Palkia. However, we should all get going, now!”

            The army of Pokémon set off for the lair of Anarchos. When they arrived, they all saw that it was a massive area that was both pitch black and entirely visible at the same time. There were hundreds of Chaos Shards swarming around what looked like one colossal member of their kind. Giratina said, “The one at the center is Anarchos. Oscar, you and your forces must engage the Shards so that we can have a clearer path to their master!”

            Oscar led the mostly Ghost Type Pokémon in a charge across the open black plain. The Chaos Shards detected their enemies and rushed them en masse. Dialga said, “We will begin moving toward Anarchos now, I fear that Oscar’s troops will not be enough, though.”

            **The outcome of this battle was still in question.**

            As the force of twenty-two Pokémon advanced across the plain, using their weaker attacks to destroy the few Shards who came at them, they saw another platoon of Pokémon come charging into the horde of Chaos Shards. Yveltal was flying at the head of this force. However, he soon broke off his attack and flew over the Shards, evading their ranged attacks. Yveltal then flew over to Giratina, swatting a Chaos Shard into oblivion with his tail and said, “I think that it is for the best that I help you take on the big bastard.”

            Suicune and Raikou looked nervously at each other as Giratina responded, “Good to see that you finally came around. Now, lets’ go commit deicide!”

            **That last line was both awkward and hilarious simultaneously in my opinion.**

            The elite force of twenty-three Pokémon rushed across the black plain towards the immobile, colossal, central Shard. As they approached it, the Shard took on a form that looked like the upper body of a gargantuan androgynous human. Anarchos was entirely jet black except for a red outline and red eyes. Their “hair” was their most unnatural feature. It took the form of a multitude of huge black tentacles with sharp pointed ends akin to those of the Chaos Shards. Anarchos spoke, their voice filled with condescension in every single word, “I always knew this day would come. The day when I would be victorious, when your kind would be wiped from this dimension. Arceus was a fool to leave. If they ever return… they will find the world they created irrevocably destroyed!”

            **Originally, I planned to make Anarchos indirectly responsible for the extinction of humanity. However, I dropped that idea during the process of writing this story.**

            Kyla could not help but shout back at the ancient god, “You will never fully succeed! You will be unable to destroy the souls of all the Pokémon! Even if you do kill us all!”

            **Kyla remains as defiant and strong-willed as ever. Even if the face of a hostile god.**

            Anarchos chuckled and then shot back, “Well, you all made it this far. You should know what I plan to do with your kind. I have decided that existing alone is too boring, actually. So, I am going to make a new world with myself as the new god. After I annihilate your world, of course. My world will have no real ‘rules’ to it, however. There will be no order to its nature. There will not be any rhyme or reason, as you would call it. No ‘stability’ at all. I will take the souls of the Pokémon and force them into new forms, ones more to my liking. You will find them very painful at first, most likely. In the end, though, I would think you would have to adapt.”

            **What made Anarchos so scary to me was their plan to put Pokémon souls into unnatural, warped bodies. They were truly incapable of respecting other beings right to live as they were. They only saw the Pokémon as the creations of their old nemesis, not as sentient living creatures.**

            Anarchos wasted no more time explaining their plan. At that point, a number of Chaos Shards appeared from behind Anarchos and rushed at the force. Virizion shouted, “Terrakion and I will take as many of them as we can.”

            As the two Swords of Justice ran to intercept the Chaos Shards, Arya shouted, “I will help you two.” She ran after them to assist in fighting the Chaos Shards.

            The remaining Pokémon started to engage the hair like tentacles of Anarchos. Dialga used Roar of Time, blasting all parts of the ancient god, while Giratina used Ominous Wind to do the same. The various teams split up into their groups and began to fight the tentacles as best as they could. All of the Pokémon in the force who could Mega-Evolve did so, in order to boost their offensive and defensive power rapidly.

            As the battle raged on, the airborne Pokémon swooped through the air, trying to target Anarchos’s central body with their most powerful attacks. They had to move fast in order to evade the slashing and crashing tentacles, which tried to knock them out of the sky. Diego stayed close to Lugia, blasting tentacles that targeted her as she sniped Anarchos with her strongest attacks.

            Being targeted by a large number of strong Pokémon, Anarchos sustained massive damage in a relatively short period of time. Ho-oh shouted, “It looks like they are weakening, they will need to draw from the sphere in order to heal!”

            Anarchos heard Ho-oh’s statement and shot back, “Or, I could draw power from some of you!”

            **Someone practically has to die on the heroic side of a battle of this magnitude.**

            As the two Swords of Justice and Arya were tearing through the Chaos Shards, the last batch of shards ganged up on Terrakion, surrounding him and impaling him with their sharp, pointed ends. Terrakion’s body was consumed as Virizion screamed in horror, having lost both of her comrades to Anarchos. Arya then incinerated the swarm of Chaos Shards with her Inferno move, allowing Virizion to rush at Anarchos and, screaming incoherently with rage, strike them with her Sacred Sword.

            Anarchos laughed, seeing another Legendary Pokémon’s demise. However, this allowed all of their foes to launch a wave of powerful, successful attacks on the god, more than negating the energy drained from Terrakion.

            **It looks like that might have backfired.**

            As Anarchos regained their focus and their tentacles went back into action, Akira used a dark pulse to shatter a few of the god’s smaller tentacles. After that, another, larger, tentacle knocked Akira over and another dove in for a kill.

            Akira closed her eyes, expecting to die then and there. However, she still heard the din of battle around her. She opened her eyes and gasped in complete horror to see her husband, Shade, had jumped in front of the tentacle and been impaled on it. He reached back towards her and said, “I love y…” His body was then consumed.

            **Shade lost the “death lottery” in terms of which major character actually died in the final battle. I thought someone narratively important should die in this fight and he was the one I chose. I know that he did not do much in this story, weakening the possible impact of his death, but my choice still stands.**

            The tentacle was then frozen and destroyed by an Icy wind from an enraged Alfred, who then rushed to his mother.

            Ned screamed, “First two of my heroes die because of you! Now the Guild Master has! You are not getting away with this!” He blasted a Hydro Pump into the “face” of Anarchos.

            Anarchos recovered from the attack and gleefully shot back, “Yes I will!” At that point, a new swarm of Chaos Shards appeared to flank the expeditionary force.

            The Shards charged at the force, but a series of distortions in reality, a Spatial Rend, erupted forth and lethally slashed through all of them and then into Anarchos. A female voice called out, “There has been enough senseless death! I cannot allow my kind to be driven to extinction! Anarchos, your death will mean something, our survival and our victory!”

            **Thankfully, she ended her centuries of wallowing in self pity…**

            A gargantuan pink and white reptilian, bipedal, Pokémon appeared and crashed to the ground. She roared a battle cry and Dialga and Giratina looked immensely relieved.

            Giratina shouted, “Well it’s about…Space?”

            **That was admittedly a lame pun.**

            Palkia rushed into the fray as the attacking Pokémon now pressed Anarchos from all sides.

            **I’ll admit that this battle was a bit bloated in terms of the number of allied combatants. I thought it made sense, considering how powerful the enemy was.**

            Remembering her earlier comment, Anarchos looked down at Kyla and said, “Let’s try that again.”

            Kyla was bowled over by a tentacle and another came straight for her. However, Rico leaped into the air and used his Metal Claw to slash the tentacle’s pointed end off, saving his mother.

            **I never planned to kill off Kyla there. I just wanted readers to, albeit very briefly, think she could die here.**

            Kyla got up and then, after quickly shooting Anarchos with an Aura Sphere, told Rico, “Thanks, Son.”

            Rico shouted back, “Don’t mention it,” as he used a Force Palm to eliminate the damaged tentacle.

            **She is his mother after all…**

            Chadwick looked immensely relieved that his wife had been saved, as he threw a straggler Chaos Shard into another one with his Seismic Toss, wiping out both of them.

            **Yay, Chad’s strongest move from the first story makes its return.**

            Anarchos was being forced to drain power from their sphere at this point, any of Oscar’s Pokémon being killed by their Shards on the nearby battlefield were not giving them enough power to make up for the energy being lost from the massive injury the god was taking. Anarchos decided that in order to win the battle, they would have to kill some Legendary Pokémon, even if it meant that the others would be able to attack them relatively unimpeded.

            Anarchos shot a number of tentacles at Yveltal, but the King of the Dead used his Oblivion Wing to cut through all of them. Yveltal, as he was healed, shouted, “I am taking some of that Pokémon energy that you stole back!”

            Anarchos glared at Yveltal and then shot out a total of eight tentacles at Dialga and Palkia, only to have them respond with Roar of Time and Spatial Rend, respectively. The moves smashed the tentacles and all of the nearby straggler Chaos Shards. They also damaged Anarchos’s main body. Anarchos could regenerate tentacles very rapidly, but damage to the tentacles was still damage to them and therefore, they could not send out tentacles forever.

            **Anarchos is certainly an RPG boss. They were quite a damage sponge.**

            Diego watched as, on the ground, Aurora and Arya covered Alfred, Akira as well as Ana’s team as they attacked Anarchos’s central body up close along with Virizion. He then used a Flamethrower on an incoming small tentacle as Lugia fired an Aeroblast into Anarchos. Ho-oh then directed Suicune and Raikou to keep blasting Anarchos from a decent distance along with Ned. Ho-oh then moved in closer in order to use Sacred Fire on Anarchos.

            Anarchos sent tentacles swinging in toward Raikou and Suicune. Diego then followed Lugia and Ho-oh in closer to the ground. Lugia destroyed a tentacle with Ancient Power, and Ho-oh did the same to another. Diego moved in to the remaining two and burnt them away with a Heat Wave.

            Then, a wave of tentacles went shooting for Lugia and Ho-oh. As they were about to hit, a number of ranged attacks came up from the Pokémon on the ground and sliced into them. Lugia and Ho-oh then used Extrasensory and Gust, respectively, to eliminate the surviving tentacles.

            Anarchos then staggered back and their actual, “arms” slumped to the ground, Alfred shouted, “I think that they drained the whole sphere! It might have been hollow?”

**Thankfully, it was mostly hollow.**

            Dialga responded, “Blast them with all we have got!”

            The exhausted expeditionary force hit Anarchos, who was barely able to conjure any more tentacles with a barrage of their best moves. All of the Legendary Pokémon that could used their signature moves on the ancient god. Diego used another Heat Wave to burn the stumps of a final emerging series of tentacles.

            **Another note on Anarchos, they were my one character actually based off of someone I briefly knew in real life. Let that sink in, as weird as it is. The chaos-incarnate arch-villain was my one character based on a real person. I will say no more on that particular subject.**

            Anarchos looked totally exhausted and then gave their enemies a strange grin. They said, “Well, you ‘Pokémon’ creations of Arceus have proven yourselves to have quite a strong sense of self-preservation. Your will to keep living is admirable. You have won this day…. I wonder, what will happen to me when I die?”

            **Did they really expect to die there? It seems like Anarchos was actually impressed by his foe’s combined strength in battle.**

            Anarchos started to shrink into the ground, their energy dissipating. Giratina then shouted, “They will not escape this time. I will end this for all of us!”

            **Diego had the “right” to finish Anarchos as the main protagonist. However, I let Giratina do it since he was accidently framed for the actions of Anarchos and their cultists.**

            Giratina used Shadow Force to disappear as the others bombarded Anarchos with another wave of powerful damaging moves. Then, Giratina reappeared inside of what remained of Anarchos and the resulting blast of energy shattered them completely. All of the remaining Chaos Shards dissipated into nothingness within seconds. Dialga looked over the scene and said, “Anarchos… they were totally obliterated this time. We killed an actual god!”

            **They will not be back. Giratina made sure of that! It was cool that his signature move got used to finish the Big Bad off.**

            Akira could not help but say, “The cost was immense. But, we did it.” Alfred then held his mother in his arms as they both remembered whom they had lost in the brutal battle.

            Kyla embraced Rico and then Chadwick. Ana walked up to them, and the quartet shared a family group hug. 

            **That was a sweet moment. They just need to be careful of the Lucario chest spikes. I still wonder what purpose those spikes serve?**  

            Virizion then mentioned, “I guess I have to continue on as THE Sword of Justice now. I am still glad that we avenged the others. Speaking of the others, especially Sir Cobalion, I am so sorry that you were blamed for the evil wrought on behalf of the Primal Chaos, Giratina.”

            Giratina nodded as Palkia said, “I think we should get the mortal Pokémon and the material Legendaries back to their own home world. They will have to spread the word of the final demise of Anarchos and then celebrate.”

            Yveltal and his forces returned to their duties. And Dialga and Palkia went off to talk, privately. The expeditionary force made their way, along with the remains of Giratina’s army, to Giratina’s fortress. Diego and Lugia were walking together. They were both too exhausted to fly for the moment.

            **That battle required them to expend tremendous energy repeatedly. I can see why they were so tired.**

            Kyla was walking with her husband, Chad, she said to him, “Honey, especially considering all those who were lost. We should be glad to be alive. I think we might want to take advantage of this… by having another baby.”

            Chadwick looked back over at his wife and responded, “Maybe we should.”

            **That was a weird way to end the chapter. Sorry about that… Anyway, funny fact… this story was given the working title: “Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Age of Anarchy” for most of its development. However, I came up with the idea for the final title just before its posting began. I think that the final title worked better when compared with the title of my first ROC series story than “Age of Anarchy” would have.**


	30. Epilogue: With the World Saved

            The expeditionary force was soon able to return to Giratina’s fortress. When they all arrived, they were greeted by Dialga and Palkia. The two demigods told the assembled Pokémon that they had decided that, even thought it might take hundreds of years, they were off to search the multiverse. They were hoping to locate, and hopefully retrieve, Arceus.

            **They want to bring Arceus back to their creation.**

            Giratina, after saying goodbye to his siblings, opened up a new dimensional portal that allowed the expeditionary force to return to the material world. The force’s Pokémon thanked Giratina for all that he and his forces had done and then they departed back to their own home world.

            When they returned, they saw, as they had expected, that the black sphere in the sky was no more. Once the force returned to Semberta Town, the first order of business was the funeral for Terrakion. After that, the town was allowed to celebrate the destruction of Anarchos and the survival of the world.

            **Despite immense losses, the world of Pokémon survived intact. The crises ended in Anarchos’s final death, despite the damage they had done.**

\---

            Semberta Town’s Guild teams were both quickly disbanded after the victory celebrations were ended. Paul quickly proposed to Aurora, which she agreed to after telling him the truth of her wild origins. She ended up moving in with him and his family. Once they had their own child, they moved into their own house in Semberta Town.

            Ned, after saying a tearful goodbye to his oldest friend Diego, ended up following a number of his friends and allies back to the Alliance Territory where he moved to Polumbos Town and ended up marrying the daughter of Guild members Hans and Chandra.

            **A minor callback to both the first story and Ned’s interest in female Totodile.**

            Alfred returned to Megapolis with his grieving mother, after leaving Riko in charge of the frontier Guild office. After an impressive funeral was held for Shade in Megapolis it was decided, at a grand convention of P.A.G. members held soon afterward, that Alfred was to become the second Guild Master of the Pokémon Adventurers Guild. In part to avoid making the position of Guild Master a dynasty, and in part because he felt that he could never truly love someone other than Ana, Alfred never married or had any traceable children. He loyally served the organization his father started as the leader of the P.A.G. and continued Shade’s research in every way possible.

            **Poor Alfred, he probably should have ended up with someone. He should have gotten over his fixation on Ana.**

            Akira lived with her son in Megapolis and worked for the Guild as best as she could for the rest of her life. She was displeased with Alfred for his conscious decision to never marry, but she was still always there to support her son and the Guild that the love of her life had built.

            **I feel sorry for her as well, in retrospect.**

            Zane was soon able to buy a house of his own in Semberta Town. Also, he formed a new Guild team with a number of new recruits. Eventually, he developed a romantic relationship with the oldest of them and married her.

            **Even Zane gets to get married, but not Alfred? I wonder what species his wife was?**

            Ana and Cordelia returned to Polumbos Town, along with Ana’s family and Ned. There, they were eventually wed in Mother Blissey’s Church with Stephan, Stanford and Ana’s parents among those in attendance. Cordelia was welcomed into Ana’s family, and the two of them moved into their own house. Eventually, they took over running the local Guild office from, the aging Sunflora.

            **The Sunflora who ran the Guild office in Polumbos in Wake of Humanity got basically her only shout-out in this story there.**

             Rico returned to his girlfriend, Delilah and Rexford’s daughter Diane. He was greatly saddened by the death of Guild Master Shade. However, he was able to receive a permanent position working under Alfred. He and Diane moved to Megapolis, for work reasons, after their own wedding in the Polumbos Town church.

            Elias served out the rest of his term as the mayor of Semberta Town. The locals fondly remembered him as the mayor who guided the town through the near apocalypse. The town’s future mayors did their best to live up to his example as Semberta later grew into a small city on the frontier.

            Takara retained her position as Sheriff of Semberta Town long after Elias was out of the mayor’s office. She ended up marrying her male deputy later on, even though they both swore to not let their relationship affect their professional duties.

            **Good that they kept it professional. This was actually another “marriage-crazy” epilogue. Expect for Alfred? I am still questioning that particular decision, even to this day.**

            Virizion became the lone Sword of Justice and went on her way to continue trying to right the wrongs of the world. Elias told her, before she left, that she would always be welcome in Semberta Town.

            Arya remained in Semberta Town. Gifted as a Ninetales with amazing longevity, she had many years ahead of her. She wanted to stay near Aurora as long as she still lived, and in order to do that, she stayed in Semberta Town. She took a job as a “special consultant” to the Sheriff’s department in town. Arya would, at least in private, still claim that the Imperium’s actions were justified, but she never made her views on that matter too public. She did not want to risk her newfound position as a respectable member of society. Eventually, Arya began to consider seeking male companionship again, even if it did not involve a new long-term relationship.   

            **With so much of her life left, why wouldn’t she?**

            Kyla and Chadwick, after returning home to Polumbos Town, had a second daughter who they named Macy. Macy would end up being their last child. She would also end up eventually continuing the family tradition of serving in the P.A.G. as a frontline team member. Macy, unlike her big sister Ana, eventually married a male, allowing the ability of Aura Sense to continue being passed down through Kyla’s family line.

            Ho-oh returned to his mountain almost immediately after the death of Anarchos. He took Suicune and Raikou with him after ending his “loan” of Suicune to his sister. Before he left, he told Lugia that he would be there for her if she ever needed him again. Lugia, of course responded by saying the same thing.

            **It was not heavily detailed in this story, but those two legendaries did care for each other in a strong familial way.**

            The Lampent who used to work with the outlaw Banette, continued working at his candle shop with is employees. He learned about all that had happened, with regard to Anarchos, and became very grateful that he had left his old gang when he had.

            **Even a character as minor as him got an epilogue spot, it turns out.**

            Sherry eventually became the owner of the inn where she had spent so much time working. Patrons would often ask her to tell stories about all of the important guests who had stayed in the establishment. She would normally oblige them.

\---

            Lugia flew with Diego south, across the sea, to his old village after Ned had decided travel south on the barge to the Alliance Territory. Once there, Diego found his parents and Ned’s family having just returned to the village from hiding in the forest from the Chaos Shards. The entities had been summoned onto the nearby beach and had attacked the village, relentlessly. Ned’s family was informed of Ned’s overall heroism and his decision to move to Polumbos Town. They were also told that he would send them a letter soon enough, which he did. Diego told his parents about his adventurers in the Guild leading up to the conclusive battle against Anarchos in the outer world. Raul and Lenora were shocked at all their son had been able to accomplish. They were the most surprised when he introduced them to Lugia and learned of the arrangement that he now had with her. 

            **That must have been an interesting family reunion. I wonder what they thought had happened to Diego?**

            Lugia then flew Diego, Raul and Lenora all the way back to Semberta Town. Once there, Diego gave them all of the money that he had made from Guild work, over 20,000 Poké in total. Raul and Lenora were able to purchase a small house and were recommended to every prominent, and even not so prominent local employer that Diego could think of. Diego also made sure that Aurora promised him not to tell his parents about her past romantic feelings for him and about their fight. Diego gave his mother and father the best goodbye that he could and told them both that if he were ever in the area, while performing his duties to Lugia that he would visit them. Also, that when they passed away, he would come as soon as possible, once informed, to attend their respective funerals. Diego’s parents thanked their son for what he had done for them. They also told him that they were ultimately proud of him for the commitment that he had made and was keeping, while not forgetting about them in the process.

            **I guess that that wraps that up? Diego never fully forgot his original motivation for adventuring. His family still mattered to him, even as new obligations took over his life.**

\---

            After leaving his parents for what might be the last time, Diego flew off to the docks to meet with Lugia. When he arrived and landed, he looked up at her and she looked down at him. Lugia then asked him, “Diego, how do you feel? You have accomplished at least half of what you first set out to accomplish. You have found your family a new home and greater prosperity than they have ever known. However, you have given up on your dreams of personal glory, in order to serve me.”

            **I guess that I included that bit as a short recap for readers?**

            Diego was quick to respond, “Yes, I have found a new home for my family. As for the glory that I sought at first, well, I met you. Is there anything else that we need to take care of before we leave this place, my Lady?”

            Lugia smiled back at Diego and then said, “You know, I have played many parts in my thousands of years of life. I have even gone centuries without fighting any battles. I am not sure what role I will go and play now that Salazar and his master are both dead.”

            Diego then took her large “hand” in his claw and said, “We will figure it out, together. As cheesy as that sounds.”

            **That was both sweet and cheesy in my opinion.**

            Lugia blushed and replied, “You know, let’s go and find your friend Ned over in Polumbos Town. We should make sure he sends his folks that letter. Besides, I want to see how Akira and Alfred are holding up. Also, I want to see Kyla and her family at least one more time. I heard that she wants to have another child. I do not know where we will go, after that. However, we will, indeed, go there together.”

            **Lugia and Kyla clearly shared a bond of sorts after Kyla’s team rescued Lugia in the first story.**

            As the pair of Pokémon were about to take off a female voice called, “Lady Lugia, could you wait for a moment?”

            Diego and Lugia turned to see Arya running to the docks, she was alone. When she arrived and caught her breath, Lugia asked her, “Arya, is anything wrong?”

            **I added the section below with Arya during editing. It went with my changing her character to make her more caring and less selfish. Arya is not really a bad Pokémon. Mewtwo… well, he is more up in the air. See Dawn of the Imperium for more on Arya, since she is the protagonist of that story.**

            Arya replied, “Not exactly, but, after talking with Aurora and thinking it over, I just wanted to say this…. Even though it was not my direct fault, I am sorry about what the Imperium did to you. As you both may know, I almost never apologize for my former society. However, Lady Lugia, in your case, your imprisonment and torture were an obvious direct injustice. I, as the last representative of the Imperium, have to apologize. It is the only moral thing to do!”

            Lugia looked moderately surprised and said, “Well, as much as it is your right to apologize, I can forgive you. You actually seem like a good Pokémon, Arya. I am sure that this place will benefit from your help in the future.”

            Diego then added, “Aurora is lucky to have a friend like you.”

            As Arya blushed, as she finished, “If either of you two need my help in the future. Then, I will see what I can do for you. Thank you both for your time.” Arya then left the two of them, as quickly as she had arrived.

            **She did not want to take up too much of their time, since she arrived at the last moment.**

            Lugia then told Diego, “Well, my young consort, that was lucky. We have received some closure with Arya. Anyways, we should be going. We set off for the central continent immediately!”  

            **That was probably Lugia stating the obvious…**

            Diego nodded and then the pair took off from the town docks and glided off into the sky, as the orange sun began to set over the blue ocean.

                                                            The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that closes out my second "Author's Cut Edition" re-release. As of now I have no real plans to re-release any other stories of mine in the same fashion as this one and its predecessor. However, the ROC Prequel, PMD: Dawn of the Imperium, may very well eventually get an "Author's Cut" re-release. More importantly, my crossover story that I mentioned earlier in this story's notes has been edited and will probably begin posting in early may. Probably soon after May 5th on a Monday or a Friday. The crossover is simply titled "Convergence" and brings back Wake of Humanity's Kyla as the main protagonist. I plan to potentially "advertise" it in the notes sections of other stories of mine once its first chapter is out. Convergence will post bi-weekly in keeping with most of my earlier postings. Anyway, thanks to everyone who has read this far. I hope that you enjoyed the story to some extant.

**Author's Note:**

> In some notes for the re-release of this story's predecessor, I mentioned contemplating writing a new story with links to my PMD: Ruins of Civilization series. That story has been finished in rough draft form now. It is a crossover, my first, that also connects to my two non-Pokémon stories and one other fictional universes. Expect that story to be posted sometime after this one is fully posted. I still have to edit the crossover before I begin posting it, as is my normal policy. Therefore, it might still be a while until it begins posting.


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